Tiger Woods has a ‘tough road’ ahead of him due to foot injury
Legendary US golfer Tiger Woods is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats in international golf. With 82 PGA wins, he is tied for the top spot in the most number of PGA Tour titles with Sam Snead. He is also ranked second for the highest number of major tournament victories.
He is now all set to feature in 'The Match', a charitable event where he will partner with Rory McIlroy and go against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
Tiger Woods has hit a lot of snags, both personal and professional, in his decades-long career. His most recent obstacle would be his continuous injuries. In 2021, he suffered a horrific car crash after which he was unsure of his future in golf.
Just when everyone thought Woods could make a comeback through the Hero World Challenge that he annually hosts, the legendary golfer had to withdraw due to a foot injury. Woods had plantar fascitis, which is an inflammation in the heel. While he can still swing his golf club, he has trouble walking.
So Tiger Woods will use a golf cart to travel between holes at the much-awaited 'The Match' on December 10. He spoke about this in a promotional event.
"I can hit golf balls, it's just hard to get from point A to point B, so (the cart) will certainly help a lot."
He further added that with his foot injury, it was a tough road to recovery ahead of him.
"I've got to get this plantar to heal and that just takes time. It's not something that happens overnight. It's going to take a lot of rest and healing and unfortunately, treatment. It's a tough road."
"Our sport is measured in decades" - Tiger Woods
Golfers generally have longer shelf lives compared to other sports. This gives players the opportunity to compete at the highest level for a long time.
While it is unclear how many PGA Tour events Tiger Woods will take part in next year, he noted that golfers have longer careers than other athletes.
"Arnold Palmer played in 50 straight Masters. You can't do that in any other sport. Our sport is measured in decades, not just years, decades."
The experienced duo of Woods and Rory McIlroy will play opposite rising stars Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth under the lights in 'The Match' on December 10 at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida.
Spieth was excited to play against two of the most iconic golfers who had inspired him. At the same time, he said that he wanted to win and securing a victory against such an incredible pair would be thrilling.
He said:
"If you told myself and JT (Justin Thomas) in 2012 in college that we would be playing against these two in a match, that would be a really, really cool thing. We want to win it because of how much these two inspired us. It's a unique and really cool opportunity for us to try to take down a couple of the greats, a couple of the greatest that ever played."
Certainly, 'The Match' will not be a tournament that any golf fan around the world would want to miss out on.