“Those were the darkest moments” – Tiger Woods on his ‘second great run’
Tiger Woods had a brilliant run of six years from turning professional in 1996 to 2002. However, in 2002, his career hit a minor slump and he did not win any majors till 2004. As champions always do, Woods resurged again and had a second brilliant phase from 2005-10 where he reclaimed his dominance, winning six PGA events that year and returning to the World No. I.
A few months back, Tiger Woods was interviewed by Mike Tirico of The Golf Channel about his second great run. Tirico asked Woods if the experience helped him gain a lot more success in that phase. Tiger agreed with Tirico that he understood he was in the middle of a change in his swing and he also understood the business side of that phase.
"It did um I understood that I was in the middle of a change in my swing I ended up putting that that together I understood how to win majors i understood how to prepare for them I was winning golf tournaments but I understood the the whole nature of the I guess the the the business side of it," said Woods.
Tiger Woods said that he was shy when he first joined professional golf and didn't understand a lot of things at the time, which changed in the second phase of the resurgence.
"I was so so shy and i didn't understand it that was hard but the second time around going through that other little run there uh winning major championships and winning tournaments around the world, that I had a better understanding of how to cope with it."
Tiger Woods on his "darkest phase"
Tirico asked Tier Woods if he ever had doubts in his darkest phase that he would make a comeback after injury. Woods said at the time that he felt his golf career was over and he just wanted to at least walk properly.
"Those were the the darkest moments because i my golfing career was done um i was just looking forward to walking again and and hopefully i could live a normal life with them with my kids participating in their sports and go to events i couldn't even get out of the house i couldn't go to watch their kids play soccer."
Tiger Woods said that he couldn't play with his kids and it drove him mad. Woods said that his back pain was so bad that he felt like a "death sentence" to him as no one had recovered from the fused lower back.
"You could have the l4 or l5 replaced routine but that was going to be at that time maybe a five to seseven-yearindow before that would break down and eventually you haven't fused um but mine was so degraded and it was okay you're gonna have to fuse this things but you're gonna have a quality of life."
He believes there was a good chance that he would never play golf again at tour level after that phase.
Tiger Woods last won a Major at the 2019 Masters after suffering from back problems and having a few surgeries.