Tiger Woods ‘mentally rusty’ on return to competitive golf
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Tiger Woods has not played since April when he withdrew during the Masters at Augusta due to injury before undergoing ankle surgery.
PHOTO: AFP
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MIAMI – Tiger Woods said that he felt “mentally rusty” on his return to competitive golf on Nov 30, after carding a three-over 75 in the first round of the PGA Tour’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
The former world No. 1 has not played since April, when he withdrew during the Masters at Augusta due to injury before undergoing ankle surgery.
The American, who will turn 48 on Dec 30, has been keeping a limited competition schedule after a 2021 car crash left him with a serious leg injury, and while he said his body held up fine, the mental side of the game let him down.
“I felt like I was ready to compete and play,” said Woods, who finished eight shots behind joint leaders Brian Harman and Tony Finau. There are 20 players in the limited field event.
“I hit it solid most of the day. As I said, I just didn’t mentally do the things I normally would do and I need to do.
“Now I know mentally what I need to do better. Physically, I knew I was going to be OK. Mentally, I was really rusty and made a lot of errors in the mind that normally I don’t make.”
The 15-time Major winner followed birdies with bogeys three times in the first 12 holes at Albany Golf Club before he had a double bogey at the 15th, bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17 and a par at the 18th hole.
Woods, who had said he was curious how he would play after undergoing ankle surgery,
“The middle part of my round it was just a lack of commitment and it kind of carried over into some of the final holes,” he added.
“Didn’t commit over some of the shots. I was kind of squirrelly on whether or not I should hit this shot at this height, this trajectory, the wind is puffing up or it’s not or it’s laying down.
“All the things you normally take for granted... I had a lack of commitment on a number of different shots.”
He had no major physical issues despite being “sore all over” and walking with a slight limp, and he was looking forward to getting back on course for the second round of the tournament, which he hosts for the benefit of his charity.
“We’ve got some work to do tonight. Tomorrow, get back in the gym and activate and get ready for it,” he said.
“Hopefully I hit some better shots.”
Meanwhile, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said the Dec 31 deadline outlined in the framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) remains a “firm target” and that he plans to meet PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan next week.
Speaking at The New York Times DealBook Summit in New York City on Nov 29, Monahan acknowledged the tour is in discussions with multiple parties about potential investment in a new for-profit entity but that negotiations with PIF and the DP World Tour are ongoing.
“We’re having conversations with multiple parties,” he said. “The deadline for our conversations with PIF, as you know, is a firm target.
“I’ll be with Yasir next week, and we continue to advance our conversations. It’s pretty well known that there’s a large number of other interested parties that we’re also pushing to think about.”
Monahan’s comments came amid speculation that the deadline for the agreement to be finalised may be extended.
The tour has also been in discussions with other interested parties, most notably the Fenway Sports Group.
