Tiger Woods is ready to go on Saturday night’s latest edition of “The Match” even though his right leg is not fully healed.
Woods, a 15-time major champion, will play against world No. 1 Rory McIlroy in a 12-hole match with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas under the lights at Pelican Golf Club outside Tampa, Florida.
Woods, who was forced to pull out of last week’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, said being able to use a golf cart in the match would help “a lot”.
“I can hit golf balls. It’s hard to get from point A to point B.” [the cart] It really helps a lot,” he said Wednesday.
Woods, 46, played just nine rounds at three major championships last season. In the year He is still recovering from serious injuries sustained in a car accident outside Los Angeles in February 2021.
“I was able to hit a golf shot,” Woods said. “JT’s been there watching me practice. . . . But being in the cart is a whole different deal. That’s what I did at Medalist. Trying to get ready and play. In the Hero and see if I can actually do it, the walking part was challenging, really swinging.” It wasn’t.
Woods has not played since losing his match at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews in July. He has yet to say whether he will attempt to play in any official PGA Tour events before the Masters in April. He is scheduled to play next week at the PNC Championship in Orlando with his son Charlie.
“I’ve got to get this plant to heal, and that’s just going to take time,” Woods said. “It’s not something that happens overnight, it takes a lot of rest and healing and unfortunately therapy. It’s a tough road. [for] Anyone who’s ever been.”
Having McIlroy in the team will certainly help his chances of winning on Saturday night. The format is best ball where each player plays his own ball on the holes and the lowest score of the two players counts as the team score.
“I can tell you one thing, I’ve got the No. 1 player in the world on my team so I’m good,” Woods said. “He’s going to have the best cheerleader ever.”
