Tiger Woods opens up about 'unfortunate reality' after car accident and his return to golf

Tiger Woods has opened up about his future in golf after his February car crash. In an interview with Golf Digest, the 15-time major champion admitted that he probably won’t make a full return to professional golf as he doesn’t “have (the same) body” as before.

“I don’t have to compete and play against the best players in the world to have a great life,” Woods admitted. The 45-year-old sustained open fractures to the tibia and fibula in his right leg in the car crash. He also said amputation had been a very real possibility.

While Woods has made remarkable comebacks before, for example when he returned from back surgeries to win the 2019 Masters, he told the publication that this time he doesn’t see himself doing it. “After my back fusion, I had to climb Mt. Everest one more time. I had to do it, and I did. This time around, I don’t think I’ll have the body to climb Mt. Everest, and that’s OK.”

Tiger Woods on his future: “Pick and choose a few events a year”

Woods referenced Ben Hogan, who played a limited schedule in the early 1950s after returning from injuries suffered in a car accident. “I think something that is realistic is playing the Tour one day, never full-time ever again, but pick and choose, just like Mr. [Ben] Hogan did.”

“You play, practice around that and you gear yourself up for that. I think that’s how I’m going to have to play it from now on. It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s my reality. And I understand it, and I accept it,” he told the publication.

He explained that this conclusion came after almost losing his leg in the hospital. “There was a point in time when, I wouldn’t say it was 50/50, but it was near there if I was going to walk out of that hospital with one leg,” he said. “Once I [kept it], I wanted to test and see if I still had my hands,” he said.