Golf: Playing alongside son is ‘far more important’ than recovery from injury, says Tiger Woods

ORLANDO, Florida – Fifteen-time Major winner Tiger Woods said he did not care whether competing in this weekend’s PNC Championship would

set back his recovery from injury,

so long as it meant he could compete alongside his son Charlie.

“Any time I get a chance to spend time with my son, it’s always special,” he said. “The last couple of years have been magical. We’re looking forward to it.”

He withdrew ahead of the Hero World Challenge earlier in December after developing a foot injury and told reporters on Friday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, that progress was slow.

“I can practise. I just can’t walk,” said Woods. “It’s just one of those things where I need rest and I haven’t exactly been doing that.”

While he conceded that the injury could have an impact on his plans for 2023, he insisted that competing alongside his 13-year-old son was his top priority – even if it meant he would spend more time recovering later.

He said: “Being there with and alongside my son is far more important, and get to have a chance to have this experience with him is far better than my foot being a little creaky.”

The pair finished second in the 36-hole parent-child tournament in 2021 to two-time Major winner John Daly and his son, John Daly II, in what was Woods’ first competitive golf just 10 months after

a devastating car accident that nearly cost him his leg.

After finishing 47th at the Masters in his comeback event, he withdrew after three rounds at the PGA Championship with leg pain and missed the cut in July at the British Open at St Andrews.

“I played more this year than I certainly thought at the beginning of the year,” he said. “But I got the chance to play in three Major championships. That’s far, far more than what I had expected going into the year. So it has been a positive.”

But he admitted that “it’s been a lot harder than people probably imagine”.

“There’s some of the players who are very close to me know what I’ve kind of gone through, and they’re the ones that keep encouraging me to back off a little bit,” he added.

“But that’s not really in my nature. My nature is trying to get better.”

The sight of Charlie on the course at Friday’s pro-am dazzled fans, who could not help but notice the uncanny similarities between father and son, from swing to mannerisms.

Even Tiger, who turns 47 on Dec 30, had to admit sometimes he feels as though he is “talking to a mirror” when he tries to offer his son lessons on golf – or life: “My little smart comments come right back at me now.”

Three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington, a PNC entrant with his son, says Woods will win another Major.

The Irishman said: “I genuinely think he will be in contention.”

Only two golfers older than Woods is now have ever won Major titles – Julius Boros at the 1968 PGA Championship at age 48 and Phil Mickelson at 50 at the 2021 PGA Championship. REUTERS, AFP