GOLF:TWELVE MONTHS after finishing second-last at a course where he's won seven times, an incredible 30 strokes behind winner Hunter Mahan, Tiger Woods returns from a 12-week injury lay-off at Firestone Country Club this week insisting he's more excited about his game than he's been in years.
The 35-year old American’s enthusiasm stems from his recovery from left knee and Achilles’ tendon injuries that forced him to limp off the course after playing just nine holes of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in 42 shots.
Admitting he set back his recovery by coming back too soon at Sawgrass, he said: “Absolutely. I was back to where I was good to go and then put myself back again.”
With that lesson learned, he resisted the temptation to come back at last week’s Greenbrier Classic, but played 18 holes at Atlanta Athletic Club on Monday, the venue for next week’s US PGA, before pitching up in Akron with his confidence sky high.
“I was pretty close to being ready to go and it’s like, ‘hey, just give yourself some more days of hitting a lot of golf balls and get your body attuned to that and conditioned to that,‘” he said after playing Firestone’s front nine in practice where his few misses were to the left.
“So I listened, I listened to the docs and took another week, and I’m thankful that I did because I feel great now.”
Having begun hitting his driver three weeks ago, he insisted that he is now pain free.
“I don’t feel a thing. It feels solid, it feels stable, no pain. That’s one of the reasons why I took as long as I did to come back is that I want to get to this point where I can go ahead and start playing golf again like this.
“It’s been a very long time, and it feels good to go out there today and hit balls like this, go practice and feel nothing and walk around and pretty much do anything I want on the golf course.”
Woods’ injury woes forced him to miss the US Open at Congressional, where Rory McIlroy won by eight, and the British Open at Royal St George’s last month, where Clarke won his first major at the age of 42.
McIlroy’s win hinted at the arrival of the new breed, but Clarke’s victory will give Woods’ renewed belief that changes off the course don’t necessarily mean life on it is over.
Woods has made significant changes over the past few months, leaving IMG, with agent Mark Steinberg, in tow and moving to Excel Sports Management.
He’s sacked Steve Williams, his caddie of 12 years, and arrived in Akron for this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with boyhood pal Bryon Bell on the bag as a temporary replacement.
“I’m excited, excited to compete, to play, and hopefully win the golf tournament,” he said, flashing that multi-million dollar smile.
“I’m just focused on trying to win a golf tournament. That’s it.”
He wasted little time discussing comments by his Williams, who stated he felt he had “wasted the last two years of my life” by remaining loyal to Woods following his fall from grace at the end of 2009.
Woods said: “Well, that’s what he says and what he feels.”
The 14-time major winner admitted he’s had “a ton” of applications for his bag, and not all of them from regular bagman.
Hinting that members of the public had sent in their applications, he added: “Right now I’m trying to play this week with Bry, and hopefully next week, as well, and maybe get myself in the [FedEx Cup] play-offs.”
Right now Woods is 133rd in the FedEx Cup rankings. But you get the impression that if his game matches his confidence, he won’t have a problem making the top 125 who qualify for the first play-off event, the Barclays, at the end of the month.
