A day after an interview by his partners at Golf Digest/Discovery that saw Tiger Woods open up on several topics, he faced questions from assembled scribes in the Bahamas to kick off Hero World Challenge week. As is fairly typical of , Woods avoided any details of his car accident and referred everyone to the police report that was eventually posted by TMZ.
He was again clear about his ability to play at a high level being very much up in the air.
I'll put it to you this way: As far as playing at the Tour level, I don't know when that's going to happen. Now, I'll play a round here or there, a little hit and giggle, I can do something like that. I certainly like -- you know, the USGA suggested Play It Forward. I really like that idea now. I don't like the tees on the back. I like Play It Forward. Come on, let's move it up, let's move it up. To see some of my shots fall out of the sky a lot shorter than they used to is a little eye-opening, but at least I'm able to do it again. That's something that for a while there it didn't look like I was going to. Now I'm able to participate in the sport of golf, now to what level, I do not know that. I'll keep you abreast, all of you abreast as progress continues to go on, whether I'll be out here and at what level and when.
Actually it was Tee it Forward and I believe that one’s ten years old and about 14 slogans ago. Excuse me, brand campaigns. But we get the point.
Q. Tiger, I'm wondering what you remember of the accident. Obviously we all saw the result and it looked so horrifying and scary, and I have a follow up to that.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, all those answers have been answered in the investigation, so you can read about all that there in the post report.
Short and not very accountable. Would have been nice to say he’s just glad no one else was hurt.
He is out playing golf more than we might have realized:
Q. Have you played golf holes, like a full hole or 18 holes?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I play full holes, yeah, but not from my tee markers.
As for the pain…
Q. I don't want to get too personal, but what are you experiencing there at the moment, sitting there?
TIGER WOODS: My back hurts and my leg hurts.
He was asked about The Open at St Andrews and gave perhaps my favorite answer regarding the Champions dinner:
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I would love to play at St. Andrews, there's no doubt about it. It's my favorite golf course in the world. To be a two-time Open champion there, just being a part of the champions dinner is really neat. From my first one in '05 I got to attend a champions dinner, it was pretty neat to be a part of. Peter Thomson was still alive, and I sat right next to him and to hear him tell stories of when he came over and he played and shots he played and how he did it, that was awesome. Those are things like at the Masters, those dinners are priceless and those stories and listen to them talk about how they played, when they played it and what they did, it's just an honor to be a part of a room like that. Yes, I would love to be able to play that Open Championship, there's no doubt about it.
Physically, hopefully I can. I've got to get there first. Tournament's not going to go anywhere, but I need to get there.
After mentioning the Par 3 at the Masters he was jokingly asked by AP’s Doug Ferguson about committing to the Par 3 when it returns.
Q. Did you just commit to the par 3?
TIGER WOODS: No. I committed to I can play courses of that length. Now, if the Tour wants to not have golf courses lengthened, they shorten up that much to make it more difficult, that's fine by me, I have no problem with that. If they want to go back to wooden shafts and feathery balls, okay, I'm cool.
Shorter courses and a retro event. What we’ve all wanted! Maybe Jay Monahan can work on that after Tiger gave him this answer to a question about the Greg Norman disruptor league and what players should do.
TIGER WOODS: It's going to be his decision, period. I've decided for myself that I'm supporting the PGA TOUR, that's where my legacy is. I've been fortunate enough to have
won 82 events on this tour and 15 major championships and been a part of the World Golf Championships, the start of them and the end of them. So I have an allegiance to the PGA TOUR.
And I understand that some of the comparisons is very similar to when Arnold and Jack broke off from the PGA of America to start the Tour. I don't see it that way. I think the Tour has done a fantastic job, Jay's done an unbelievable job during a very difficult time during the pandemic when there was ample opportunities for players to leave, but we were the first sporting tour to start.
So with that, yes, did we have some protocol issues at times? Yes, we had to learn on the fly, but Jay and the staff had done an incredible job of that. I think the Tour is in great hands, they're doing fantastic, and prize money's going up. It's just not guaranteed money like most sports are. It's just like tennis, you have to go out there and earn it.
This answer pre-accident would have been huge news. But now that he’s on the Hogan schedule, at best participation in PGA Tour events will be very limited.
Woods also left out the thank you payment he’s receiving from the PIP pool or that he loathes Norman. But do note that he references the “end” of the WGC’s. Better not mention that in May’s WGHOF speech while Tim Finchem is saluted for creating them.
Moving along…more on where he’s at and where’s going. A far more revealing answer about his future:
TIGER WOODS: You made a great point. Am I going to put my family through it again, am I going to put myself out there again. We had a talk within the family, all of us sat down and said if this leg cooperates and I get to a point where I can play the Tour, is it okay with you guys if I try and do it. The consensus was yes.
Now, internally, I haven't reached that point. I haven't proven it to myself that I can do it. I can show up here and I can host an event, I can play a par-3 course, I can hit a few shots, I can chip and putt, but we're talking about going out there and playing against the world's best on the most difficult golf courses under the most difficult conditions. I'm so far from that.
Now, I have a long way to go to get to that point. Now, I haven't decided whether or not I want to get to that point. I've got to get my leg to a point where that decision can be made. And we'll see what happens when I get to that point, but I've got a long way to go with this leg.
This from Golf’s Dylan Dethier was another effort to ask about the accident:
Q. When it comes to the day of the crash, clearly that's something that you're hoping to keep private. Is that something that you feel is sort of your business and not the rest of ours, for lack of a better phrase?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I kind of feel that way with most of my life. Doesn't really work out that way. I understand that it's -- I had friends that insulated me from a lot of the things that were said outside. I didn't have my phone, I didn't have access -- well, I did have access to a TV and I was just watching sports. But I refused to turn on the local channels and news and stuff like that, I didn't want to go down that road. I wasn't mentally ready for that road yet. A lot of things in my body hurt at that time and whether I was on medication or not, it still hurt. And just trying to imagine me coming off of that stuff, how much it was going to hurt, I didn't want to have my mind go there yet, it wasn't ready.
Yeah, people are going to poke and prod and want to know more about my business, I understand that. Just as long as they don't go into -- they can poke and prod at me all they want, just stay away from my family.
Considering the usual interruptions from journalists there to fill seats for the sponsor and the haphazard nature of such press conferences, it was fairly classic Woods session with a few good reveals if you look close enough. More telling may have been the clarity in his voice and eyes and cautious tone from someone who traditionally projects extreme confidence.
