There were moments at Augusta National two weeks ago when the thought crossed some minds whether Tiger Woods might be playing his final Masters.
Seeing the 47-year-old, 15-time major champion laboring up and down the hills at Augusta National where a significant part of his massive legend has been built was a reminder of the new life Woods faces two-plus years after a near-fatal auto accident.
Woods himself raised the question during his pre-tournament question-and-answer session with the media.
“I don’t know how many more I have in me,” he said, before making the 36-hole cut for the second straight post-accident year and later withdrawing when faced with playing 30 holes on Sunday.
The news Thursday that Woods has undergone another surgery – this one a subtalar fusion in his damaged right ankle – brought the question of Woods’ competitive future to the forefront again.
The hope that Woods would tee it up at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill next month and at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in June is gone. The same seems true of the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July, a spot where he won the Claret Jug in 2006.
The question of when – or if – Woods will play his next major championship remains open ended. In a statement released Thursday, the surgery was labeled a success.
Recovery time for a subtalar fusion, which essentially binds bones together to reduce pain from arthritis, is generally considered to be eight to 12 weeks before full weight-bearing activities can resume.
Before the question of when Woods can play golf again and what level comes into focus, his manager Mark Steinberg told the Associated Press that Woods’ quality of life was central to his decision to undergo the procedure.
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