AUGUSTA | Barely three hours after surviving the ax, one wonders if Tiger Woods will be able to complete the Masters Tournament. His gait on the course in very gloomy weather said a lot about his physical condition before the stoppage of play for the rest of the day.
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In a video circulating online, we see the 47-year-old Tiger struggling, in the pouring rain, to put one foot in front of the other to return to his younger brother.
By observing these distressing images, one can wonder if the American with the five green jackets will not take the decision to put an end to his 25e participation in the Masters Tournament. He had withdrawn from the PGA Championship of America after the third round in Southern Hills, Oklahoma, in May 2022.
precarious state
His state of physical health has drawn attention since this car accident which could have cost him his life in February 2021. The man with 15 major titles went through a very painful rehabilitation to return to the game last year in Augusta, in just 14 months after the violent swerve.
The rain and cold weather don’t help his sore leg and stiff back. It should be remembered that after the first round, Thursday, he said he felt “constant pain” despite the hot weather.
Every day he has to go through a process of preparation and warming up. He related that he had to be careful with all the hardware installed in his leg during the surgeries following his accident.
Grimaces
In addition to this video footage, we have seen him wince many times over the seven holes he made in the third round.
And this one is not brilliant. Having started on the 10e mound on the 1:06 p.m. stroke, Woods committed two bogeys in addition to two double bogeys in a row, at the 15e and 16e pennants.
His cumulative record of +9 obviously made him tumble down to 54e and last in the draw among golfers participating in the final rounds.
As a bonus, the ardent defender of the PGA Tour in the war raging at LIV Golf is accompanied by Korean Sungjae Im and Belgian Thomas Pieters in his group.
Prior to playing his first tournament at LIV, Pieters was represented by the same influential agent who managed Woods’ entire career, Mark Steinberg. The latter had dropped him when the 31-year-old golfer was on his way to the tournament in Mexico at the end of last February.
The atmosphere must have been special before the stoppage of play in the middle of the afternoon.