Tiger Woods Car Accident - Ongoing News and Commentary

yeahlunchbox

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Yea, this strikes me as good news if you like Tiger. He'll play again and is moving into an ambassador type of role. He was trending that way anyway.
Honestly this is where I'm at. When the accident happened I was just hoping he'd be able to golf with his son. That he wants to and thinks he can be an ambassador for golf is a great outcome.
 

Average Reds

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One of the things I notice in Tiger's last comeback (from the spinal fusion) was that the days of "full rips" are basically over. That seems like his normal swing now.

Great to see him with a club in his hand. Sad that he won't ever be Tiger again, but glad that he's here.
 

cshea

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Sounds like an appearance at the PNC Father/Son Championship in 2 weeks is a real possibility. The tournament appears to be holding a spot for him and he’ll make the call next week.

View: https://twitter.com/dylan_dethier/status/1466907520409403393?s=21


It is 36-holes and he can use a cart.Scramble format so just let Charlie pop one out there from the forward tees and Tiger doesn’t even have to bother with hitting a drive.
 

radsoxfan

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Let's not forget he's been addicted to pills in the past, he's also probably fighting those demons as well. Get well Tiger, but I don't really care to see the comeback at this point. The PGA is passing him by at the moment.
Pre accident there was much speculation he was in the midst of that struggle with the back surgeries and some "off" behavior at a few tourneys right before the accident.

Getting your leg smashed to pieces and needing multiple surgeries/opioids even more isn't exactly the ideal way to get back on the right path.

Lots of challenges working against him but it's good to see him back out there, even if he won't be back in contention.
 

TheGazelle

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Tiger sat for an interview during the Hero Challenge over the weekend. My main takeaway was that he looked much older than in previous interviews I've seen - may not be a surprise given what's he gone through over the past months, but it was noticeable. He also reiterated that his real days of competitive golf are over, but that he hopes to gear up for a few tournaments - it sounds to be like he's concerned at this point about walking the course for 4 days (he mentioned how different it was just hitting balls and getting in a cart vs. full tournament golf) that underscores he's still got a ways to go to get to whatever the "new normal" Tiger looks like.
 

Comfortably Lomb

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The Champions Tour all of a sudden seems like it's a really good fit for Tiger in a few years (he turns 46 at the end of December). Non-majors are 3 rounds and he can ride a cart.
 

Deathofthebambino

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The Champions Tour all of a sudden seems like it's a really good fit for Tiger in a few years (he turns 46 at the end of December). Non-majors are 3 rounds and he can ride a cart.
I think Tiger Woods is going to eventually become a fixture on the Champions Tour, and much like he did when he joined the PGA Tour, I suspect if he does commit to playing a significant schedule on the Champions, the purse sizes will triple due to his appearances alone.

Tiger made his first appearance on Tour in 1996, and played in 8 events.

In 1997, he won the money title with $2,066,833.

In 1998, David Duval won with $2,591,031

Then in 1999, Tiger won $6,616,585.

In 2004, Vijay won almost $11,000,000.

The record was Jordan Spieth in 2015 with $12,030,465.

Then Tiger stopped playing, and the money leaders have dropped since then, and Rahm won it most recently at $7,705,933 in 2021 (there is also a lot more parity now that Tiger isn't killing everyone).

From 1996-2021, the winner of the US Open's prize money has gone from $425,000 to $2,250,000.

Tiger will have people throwing money at him to show up at Champion's Tour events, and we'll start seeing them broadcast on network television when he does.
 

cshea

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Yeah, he made a "4 more years and I'm in a cart" joke this week. He'll play there.

Also it's not health related but is notweworthy given everything that is swirling around regarding the SGL and PGL, Tiger said he's committed to the PGA Tour.
 

cshea

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Back 9 is on Golf Channel. Gotta be the first time a pro-am has been televised (not including the actual Pro-Am tour stops)
 

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I have a feeling this kid is going to be on tour someday.
It’s freaky watching the two of them and how the mannerisms are so in sync. I would think the only thing that stops him from being on the tour is if he doesn’t want to go through the circus that would surely come with it. Watching him out here as a 12 year old is impressive.
 

cshea

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The Daly’s probably win but the Woods’ are putting up a fight.

Tiger looks surprisingly good. He definitely labors down the stretch but all things considered the golf is good. Who knows if he’ll ever be able to build up the endurance to to get back to a high level, even on a sporadic, part time basis.

Charlie obviously is a hell of a player for a 12-year old.
 

cshea

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Team Woods needs an eagle on 18 to have a chance.

Tiger absolutely ripped that tee shot. Definitely unleashed with no holding back.
 

TFP

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Tigers swing looks fine but there is zero chance he’s walking 4 rounds anytime soon. I’ll be shocked if he plays in a competitive event in the short term. Maybe St Andrews?
 

cshea

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Tigers swing looks fine but there is zero chance he’s walking 4 rounds anytime soon. I’ll be shocked if he plays in a competitive event in the short term. Maybe St Andrews?
That’s my guess, but who knows. Augusta is 4 months away but as much tougher walk. He just said that was his 5th round of golf this year. Kinda wild how good his swing looks given the injury and lack of play, The game will always be there it’s just a matter if his body will allow him to play.
 

jercra

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I was at the PNC today and walked with Tiger and Charlie for the last 5 holes. There's no chance he's playing at Augusta. He was laboring a lot. I'm not sure how much made the telecast, but he was walking very slowly and gingerly. His swing was definitely not at full speed either. Of course, I don't think he missed a single fairway and was still hitting bombs, but he's not at the 175-185 ball speed he'd need to compete on Tour. His short game looks as good as ever, 18th hole today aside.

Charlie, on the other hand, he may play at Augusta in April. My word that kid's swing is so good.
 

patinorange

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I was at the PNC today and walked with Tiger and Charlie for the last 5 holes. There's no chance he's playing at Augusta. He was laboring a lot. I'm not sure how much made the telecast, but he was walking very slowly and gingerly. His swing was definitely not at full speed either. Of course, I don't think he missed a single fairway and was still hitting bombs, but he's not at the 175-185 ball speed he'd need to compete on Tour. His short game looks as good as ever, 18th hole today aside.

Charlie, on the other hand, he may play at Augusta in April. My word that kid's swing is so good.
That looks like a really fun event to attend live.
Thanks for the report. Daly smoking a cigarette waiting for the Cinks to hit on 18 was awesome. Charlie seems to be legit for sure. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
 

jercra

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That looks like a really fun event to attend live.
Thanks for the report. Daly smoking a cigarette waiting for the Cinks to hit on 18 was awesome. Charlie seems to be legit for sure. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Its a great event live. There's just not a lot of space for fans so there's basically no build-out and no concessions. I think only something like 1500 tickets were sold so you can get a good view of whoever you want. It was also at least 50% parents with their kids, which was pretty cool to see. The Tiger effect was strong too. A large chunk of fans had red shirts and black pants on.
 

Marciano490

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Wasn’t there a golfer awhile back - Casey? - who had a medical condition and petitioned to use a cart? Was he successful? Could Tiger make a similar claim?
 

Average Reds

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Wasn’t there a golfer awhile back - Casey? - who had a medical condition and petitioned to use a cart? Was he successful? Could Tiger make a similar claim?
Casey Martin was his name. He was a college teammate of Tiger’s at Stamford.

Tiger expressed sympathy for Martin but did not support his legal fight to use a cart. (Nor did many active pros.) Martin eventually won his fight with the PGA, but he didn’t play much, because his condition worsened to the point where his leg eventually needed to be amputated. (I thought it was earlier, but apparently the amputation was recent.) He is now the golf coach at Oregon.

However, because of Martin’s legal victory, Tiger probably could use a cart if he wanted to.
 
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ernieshore

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Tiger was asked that this week (if he would petition to use a cart) and he said “Absolutely not.” He said if he can’t play at that level then he just won’t play.
 

johnmd20

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The thing is Augusta is almost 4 months away. Tiger can get significantly stronger in that very long period of time. How long ago did he start even swinging a club? Probably less than 4 months ago.

I don't think Augusta is off the table yet, 4 months is a lot of time to keep getting stronger if Tiger wants to try.
 

Average Reds

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When he won the Masters in 2019, Tiger batted away the suggestion that it was "the greatest comeback in golf history" by pointing to Hogan's return from his devastating car accident to win the US Open in 1950. (And many additional majors later.) I mention that because Tiger has a keen appreciation of golf history and understands full well how monumental a return to competitive golf would be for him.

He was not "Tiger" this weekend, but his game was much closer to Tour-quality than I imagined it would be. I think he will be driven to get his legs in shape to play a very limited schedule. Whether it's at Augusta or later in the year, I have no doubt that it's coming.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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The thing is Augusta is almost 4 months away. Tiger can get significantly stronger in that very long period of time. How long ago did he start even swinging a club? Probably less than 4 months ago.

I don't think Augusta is off the table yet, 4 months is a lot of time to keep getting stronger if Tiger wants to try.
Yes, four months is a lot of time and Tiger can certainly get much stronger in that time, but being strong enough to walk Augusta 5-6 times in a week is an incredibly high bar. I suspect Tiger doesn't just want to be able to make it through The Masters, he wants to be competitive.

This weekend was the proof that he can still play after the accident. I think now he will only play a tournament (other than the PNC) when he feels he's ready to compete to win it. I can't imagine him putting the work in to play in Augusta in April just so he can limp up the 18th fairway on Friday afternoon and get the "attaboy" treatment before missing the cut. He'll want to feel like he has a chance to walk up the 18th on Sunday afternoon in the hunt of the jacket.
 

TFP

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Watching him this weekend made me 100% sure he won't play Augusta this year, but 100% sure he will in future years (barring another major accident).
 

cshea

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It's not just physically walking the course for 5-6 days in a tournament week. It's having the strength and endurace to put in the work to get to the point where he can be be tournament ready. Then it's 5-6 days of walking a course. That's going to be his biggest hurdle. He's not going to do the honorary golfer thing. He'll only return when he thinks he can compete and the only way to get to get to that level is by practicing. I don't think Augusta is reasonable, but who knows. We hadn't heard peep from him until late November and then he was playing in public within a month. Lot's of caveats, the PNC is a far cry from a regular PGA Tour event let alone a major, but he got to the point of being able to play it a lot quicker than anywone really thought he would.

He's downplayed everything and has preached caution publicly. I think he's in a place right now where he's happy to have survived the accident and kept his leg so anything else that happens professionally is just gravy. He's also Tiger though. He's ultra-competitive, driven and loves a good challenge. He said that after the fusion surgery he was motivated by proving to himself he could do it again. He's accepted that he probably won't be able to climb that mountain again, but it doesn't mean he won't try.
 

voidfunkt

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Augusta would be cool but I strongly think he is timing for St Andrews, which might be the last time he can play there in _some_ kind of competitive shape considering its not back on the rotation for awhile.