Woods Uncertain If He’ll Be Fit To Tee-Up At Masters & Stating ‘It’s The Only Back I’ve Got’.

3 years ago by Comments Off on Woods Uncertain If He’ll Be Fit To Tee-Up At Masters & Stating ‘It’s The Only Back I’ve Got’.

With some seven weeks to the 2021 Masters and Tiger Woods says he’s uncertain if he will be fit enough to tee-up at Augusta National.

Woods has competed since 19th December when he teamed with his son, Charlie to finish in a share of seventh at the Father and Son tournament in Orlando.

Two days later, the 15-time Major winner underwent a fifth back operation.

His last regular Tour event was the defence a month earlier of his Masters title and finishing just inside the top-40 ahead of fitting the famed members green jacket on Dustin Johnson.

The now World No. 48 ranked Woods is eligible to tee-up in this coming week’s $US 10.5m WGC Championship event at Bradenton on the Florida west coast but Woods did not enter and declaring all he is concerned is a further MRI on his back.

Woods, as tournament host of the Genesis Invitataionl, was asked during the final round at the Riviera Country Club if he will be fit to make his way to the first tee on April 8th for the opening round of the 2021 Masters.

He said:  “Well God, I hope so but I have to get there first (smiling).

“A lot of rests on my surgeons, my doctors and my therapists but then if I do everything correctly, and as this is the only back I’ve got, so there is not must wiggling room there.

“So, I am not sure what the plan is whether I can also fit a tournament in before Augusta or not.

“My only plan at the moment is to go ahead and get an MRI and see what the analysis is, and hopefully start over and start progressing”.

Woods admitted there is one thing he has done equipment-wise while he’s again been sidelined and that is to lenghten his putter as he explained.

“Starts with that, I don’t have to bend over as far,” he said.

“I’ve gone to the same length putter as my sand wedge because I do a lot of putting drills, blading — hitting the equator with my sand wedge and I figured, well, if I do a lot with that, why not lengthen my putter to the same length, so I did and it helped”.

The 45-year-old Woods has been limited by back injuries in the past, which explains his willingness to take his return slow.  He missed last year’s eventually cancelled Players Championship in March because of a back injury, several years after lower back fusion surgery in April 2017 sidelined him until January of the next year.

He’s also undergone microdiscectomy procedures in 2014 and 2015, as well.

When Woods announced in December that he would have surgery again, he acknowledged that he would miss the Farmers Insurance Open and the Genesis Invitational, but his original announcement did not clarify when he would return.

That now could be well post the Masters.



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