Fellow PGA winner, John Daly insists if Tiger Woods was in full possession of the facts he would sympathise with Daly’s knee issue.
Daly, 53 is suffering with arthritis in his right knee, and as he is allowed he applied to use a motorised cart through the Americans with Disabilities Act and claimed diabetes also contributed to his special request.
The PGA of America considered the request and agreed to allow Daly the use of a cart, and as he has been doing on the PGA Champions Tour.
Woods was faced with given an opinion at his Tuesday press conference and responded very tongue-in-cheek: “As far as JD taking a cart, well, I walked with a broken leg, so…” and in reference to Woods’ play-off victory over Rocco Mediate in the 2008 US Open.
John Daly insists if Tiger Woods knew all the facts he’d sympathise with the 53-year old
Daly was then sought an opinion to Woods’ comment.
“Tiger’s the best player I’ve ever played with or seen,” said Daly. “He shrugs off security guard ‘tackle’ to roar into Masters contention and he got his fixed for some reason.
“No doctor will replace my knee because of a different type of problem. It’s hard to explain why. I’m not a doctor. I just try to do what they say. ‘Osteoarthritis is a tough thing, brother. If my knee was broke, I would have had it fixed. But my situation is totally different.
“It’s painful as hell is all I can say. As was Tiger’s, I’m sure.”
Woods is returning to competition for a first time this week since his 15th Major success at Augusta National.
“The only other time where I’ve taken four weeks off prior to major championships is going from the British Open to the PGA,” said Woods at his pre-PGA presser on Tuesday.
“Usually that was my summer break, and take those four weeks off and then get ready for the PGA, Firestone and the fall. So, I’m always looking for breaks. Generally it’s after the Masters I used to take four weeks off there.
“Now, with the condensed schedule, it’s trying to find breaks.
“I wanted to play at Quail Hollow, but to be honest with you, I wasn’t ready yet to start the grind of practicing and preparing and logging all those hours again. I was feeling good in the gym, but I wasn’t mentally prepared to log in the hours.
“But coming here is a different story. I was able to log in the hours, put in the time and I feel rested and ready. That’s going to be the interesting part going forward; how much do I play and how much do I rest.
“I think I’ve done a lot of the legwork and the hard work already, trying to find my game over the past year and a half. ‘Now I think it’s just maintaining it. I know that I feel better when I’m fresh. The body doesn’t respond like it used to, doesn’t bounce back quite as well, so I’ve got to be aware of that.”
