Tiger Woods: “I can’t generate the speed I used to.”
Amazingly Tiger Woods has recovered sufficiently in ten months to participate in the PNC Championship with his son Charlie. Perhaps the doctors found some bionic stuff to put into his body and his broken-in-a-gazillion-parts right leg. Perhaps it just shows the determination of Woods. It certainly demonstrates his work ethic.
“There are no days off,” he said after the pro-am about his recovery process. “We worked every day. Even days where I didn’t feel very good, we still worked on something.”
Woods’ return is so much the thing of legends that even the Pro Am of the tournament was televised.
It’s clear that Woods is not 100 percent. He may never be. And he clearly limps when he walks. But at this point, it’s he is determined to recover as completely as possible. We just don’t know what that will be, and neither does he.
Friday, at the PNC pro-am, he let Charlie play a lot of shots because he wanted to rest his body as much as possible. One reason for that is Woods has to play certain shots on the front side of the course because they are too hard or too long a carry for his son.
“Some of the tee shots, I’ve got to hit on the front nine,” Woods explained about the course set up. “They moved his tee markers back, so we don’t have quite the same advantages that we had last year.”
The other issue with this stage of his recovery is that he does not have the endurance he needs to play and walk a full 18 holes of golf. The course this week is flat, and he said he would not be able to walk it. So having a cart right now is the only reason he is able to participate.
“I’m a long way, way from playing tournament golf.” — Tiger Woods
“I’m a long way, way from playing tournament golf,” he added. “This is hit, hop in a cart and move about my business just like I would at Medalist.”
Walking, no doubt, will come a few hundred yards at a time. But as he noted, there are other legendary players who are using carts this week and who absolutely need them, like Lee Trevino who is playing with his son Daniel as a partner.
“Some of the legends that I grew up idolizing and watching, and even got a chance to play early in my career, they wouldn’t be able to play in these events. Their bodies are too banged up,” Woods explained.
Most who have grown up or grown old watching Woods play on the PGA Tour did not see him as a youngster. But from Woods’ comments, Charlie may be better at this stage than Tiger was. Woods said he was skinnier than Charlie and had much less clubhead speed, and so that gives everyone something to watch for the next 10 years.
Even if Woods can’t hit every shot, he’s in every shot that Charlie hits. He said he watches, encourages, and that he knows how to think he way around a golf course and shares it with Charlie. That know-how never goes away.
“I may not be able to execute it, but I can help strategize some of his shots,” Woods added.
One thing Woods did insist is that he is not Charlie’s coach.
“My job is to be a parent and make sure that his priorities are right, and school comes first, and then if he wants to play a sport, so be it,” Woods explains.
The family aspect totally pervades the Woods pairing. Joe LaCava, and his son are caddying for Woods and his son. And at least on Saturday, they are playing with Justin and Mike Thomas.
“We are in our little bubble chatting away and talking about sports and having a great time, and we have the chance tomorrow to play with the Thomases, which are like our second family,” Woods said. “We have become so close that I think Charlie’s like Justin’s little brother he never had, and Justin has become the little brother I never had.”
More: bits and pieces from Woods:
The PNC pro-am was just his second or third round since the accident.
He will not ever ask for a golf cart for a PGA Tour event.
He has a new Taylormade driver, and he can work the ball with it.
And he’s looking ahead, perhaps two years, when talked about the new driver. The one he used last year allowed him to hit draws, but made his fades land much shorter. The new one allows him to both draw and fade the ball, and he hopes that he will be able to do that with more distance at some point in the future.