Tiger Woods: State of His Mind, Body and Game

Tiger Woods will never be the same.  He will never again be the golfer he was, even the one who had multiple back surgeries. His accident last February has changed everything. Even his core muscles are shot, by his own admission.  He knows it, and has, at some level, accepted it. In fact, it’s a long shot for him to ever tee it up in a PGA Tour event.

But that doesn’t mean he has stopped trying for yet another comeback of a sort.

Woods may appear in person at his event, the Hero World Challenge, this week in the Bahamas. If he does, he will not play. No one should expect see him to hit any Tiger-esque shots any time soon.  But, in advance of it, he did a lengthy interview with Golf Digest’s Henni Koyack. The topics ranged from his son Charlie to his painful rehab, to the stages he went through to be able to walk, even tenuously. He explained what he missed about not playing professional golf, some of the surprising phone calls he’s received and how much it means to him to have friends on the PGA Tour.

Woods had more than an uphill battle this time.  After his accident last February, the first thing he had to do was get himself out of a hospital bed.  Then, he was in a wheelchair where he developed killer triceps because he was rolling himself from place to place. Eventually, he was able to move on to crutches, and now he’s able to walk, albeit slowly.

“There’s still a little hitch in my giddy up,” he explained about his hesitating gait. “I don’t quite have the same endurance in my right leg yet.”

He plays music before rehab sessions to get psyched up for them, and then afterward, it’s ice, ice, ice to get rid of the swelling.

“Everything’s progressing nicely,” he added, “just not at my timetable and at the speed I would like to heal at!”

Anyone who has even had a pulled muscle is impatient to return to normalcy, so multiply that by a gazillion to get some idea of what Woods’ frustration level must be. In addition, if he does too much, his back starts to bother him. It’s a balance.  Work on the leg, rest the back, ice everything. Repeat.

He knows the rehab process because he’s already had so many surgeries.  But this is next level.  He said at one point, he was afraid he would lose his leg.  But, thankfully, that didn’t happen.

“I have been through so many different surgeries in the past, and because of that, it’s just being patient with it,” he noted. “I know that’s easy to say, hard to do, but I’m going through it.”

One difficulty he said was when he tried to tell a certain part of his body to move and it wouldn’t.  He called it not having the right mind-body connection.

He began by throwing a ball in his hospital room, which was apparently not something he was supposed to do, but Woods, being Woods, he was tossing the ball.  He was also extremely concerned about whether he would have the proper feel in his hands, but that came back.

The way he gets through each day is something he learned from his father who described what it was like to be in a firefight in Special Forces. First, they had to get through the morning, then the afternoon, then the evening. Then it was the next day, divided into three-hour segments.  You never knew how long it would last, but breaking the time into smaller parts somehow made it doable. So that’s what Woods did with his recovery and rehab.

Surprisingly Woods said he was not frustrated by watching other golfers play or by watching his friends do well.

“I’m not at that level,” he admitted about the state of his body and game.

He has appreciated the players who have come to see him at home, those who have sent texts and people who have called to see how he is doing.

“What people don’t really realize,” he explained, “you may not see that player for a few weeks even when we play three weeks.”

They may play opposite ends of the draw the entire time so that they aren’t on the course at the same time for the first two rounds.  Then if both make the cut and both are playing nearly equally, they may see each other on the range or even be playing together.  But that is infrequent, even with people Woods knows well, like Justin Thomas who he considers family.

“I really did miss being a competitor. I completed everything I do, and right now my competition is directed at my leg.” — Tiger Woods

However, he said it has been rewarding and surprising to hear from so many different people.

“The number, the mountain, number of texts, of emails that I have received had been off the charts, especially when I was in the hospital,” he said. “Then when I thought that was a lot, but once everyone knew I was home and I was home safely, then that part went up tenfold.”

He said he had random phone calls from coaches, players, celebrities and presidents.

“I mean unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” he added. “Sit there and see my phone that says President’s calling. You don’t really see that very often.  White House on line 1.”

He smiled broadly after that. Who wouldn’t.

This time, though, his rehab is different. After his back fusion, he wanted to prove to himself that he could come back and, as he described it, climb Mount Everest one more time. And he did.

“This time around, I don’t think I’ll have the body to climb,” he admitted. “I can still, maybe, if my life gets good enough, maybe pick off one or two here and there, but as far as climbing the mountain, get all the way to the top, I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation of me.”

Woods does not see himself playing the PGA Tour full time again, ever.  But he’s not putting out of the question playing a bit like Ben Hogan.  Picking his spots from time to time.  And who knows. If his legs allow him to walk four miles a day, five days a week to play a tournament.  If his legs will allow him to stand long enough to practice so that his skills are sharp. If his back will allow him to play. If, if, if. The list of ifs is nearly insurmountable.  Only Woods will be able to determine what he can do in the future on the golf course. But fans should prepare not to see him often.

Regardless of if or when Woods plays in a professional tournament at some point in the future, the most important thing is that he will be able to move around on his own and participate in the lives of his daughter and son.   At this point, that alone is success.  Anything else is a bonus.