Tiger Woods updates his health status after withdrawing from Hero World Challenge, restricting the 2023 schedule

Tiger Woods said Tuesday that he’s going to hit “any shot you want” right now, which is good news. However, the bad news is that he can’t play this week’s Hero World Challenge because he can’t walk to the next hit.

In Monday, Woods withdraws from the event which he hosts with his foundation and on Tuesday he gave an update on plantar fasciitis that will side him out of the four-day tournament in the Bahamas.

“Well, it was a tough decision just because I wanted to play. I like to play, I love to compete, but unfortunately I can hit the golf ball and hit whatever you want, I just can’t. walk,” Woods said. “And so I’ve had a couple of setbacks during the year that I somehow can still play through, but this time I can’t. …only time can heal this wound and help. I stood firm and received a lot of treatment done.

“As I was speeding up and had to walk more, it got worse. So when you have plantar fasciitis… the worst thing you can do is walk, and I did. walking more and more, trying to get my feet ready for the event, and I kept making it worse.”

It is a theme throughout the year. While playing, Woods actually hit the ball pretty well no matter how little he played over the past two years. The problems are more related to endurance and physical endurance than the golf swing.

While he denies any long-term problems, he does admit that the leg injury – on the same right leg that was crushed in a car crash nearly two years ago – was linked to it all. his other leg injuries. However, he still plans to compete in The Match on December 10 and the PNC Championship on December 17-18. He will be able to ride a trolley at both events.

“I can hit a golf ball. It’s just walking that hurts. So… when you have plantar fasciitis, the only thing you can do is rest and try to stretch that muscle as much as you can, But it’s rest. How do you rest when you hold a tournament? You know, it’s tough. So it’s going to be a tough week. [PNC Championship] It’s going to be a very easy week, Charlie will just hit all the strokes and I’ll just take the putts out of the hole, so pretty easy there. But other than that, in the match we’re playing, we’re flying in a carriage.”

When asked, Woods adamantly noted that he would never consider signing up to drive a trailer for a sanctioned PGA Tour event. So what does this setback mean for 2023? Maybe nothing. Anyway, Woods is only going to play 4-6 events (four majors and “one or two more”), which he still believes he can do, ride or not.

Woods said of his leg injury: “You know, it’s probably going to take you a month or two to rest. “But it’s also the acceleration that does it. It’s a balancing act, isn’t it? You’ve done your best to make progress while not trying too hard to push the limits and you’re on your own. two, three days back, and it’s a whole year balancing act. And to try to do that, get ready for this event, I’ve walked on the beach a lot of times to simulate the sand here. and my feet don’t like that very much.”

“The goal is to just play the major championships and maybe one or two more,” he added. “Physically, that’s all I can do. …I don’t have much left on this leg, so prepare for the biggest leg and hope, you know, lightning strikes inside. a bottle and I’ll be there to contest with a chance to win and hopefully I remember how to do it. But again, give yourself a chance to get out there again.”

Woods emphasized that he hit seven points at home “as if nothing happened”, so the issue is not skill but pain tolerance and fitness. Given his historical pain threshold, this plantar fasciitis problem is certainly dangerous.

As has happened all year with Woods, there will be a stop and a beginning. Some days, weeks, and months, he’ll probably feel great. Other days, weeks and months, he almost certainly won’t. Is it likely that he will participate in and complete six events next year? Based on how this year has gone (and is ending), probably not. Although it’s good to know that this particular injury just requires rest and is not a long-term problem.

However, there will be other problems. Curiously, Woods also revealed that he had undergone two surgeries earlier in the year but did not elaborate on when they took place or which part of his body was operated on. It is symbolic of where he is in his career. And while his legs and feet may improve, other parts of his body are bound to deteriorate.

The blessing in all of this is that Tiger has played a lot more in 2022 than he expected. He said he was ahead of schedule because this time a year ago he thought he would only play in the Open. He also noted that he has seen progress in his legs since the Open Championship, in which he played the eighth and ninth rounds of his 2022 (all nine of which were played). to major championships). Only recently did he experience this retrograde in his right leg.