Hopefully I can figure something out and get myself in there in contention and maybe get a ‘W’ at the end of the week.”
The familiar course in Pacific Palisades will provide the background for a new-look Woods, who will have a new caddie and new apparel after his decades-long partnership with Nike ended.
It will also provide the most rigorous test he has faced since season-ending ankle fusion surgery last April — two weeks after plantar fasciitis prompted him to withdraw from the third round at the Masters.
Woods says the procedure alleviated debilitating pain from the severe injuries he suffered in a February 2021 car crash, but his banged-up body will never again let him practice and play as he did in his prime.
My ankle doesn’t hurt anymore because no bones are rubbing anymore,” he said. “Other parts of my body have to take the brunt of it… other parts of the body have to adapt.”
Woods says he feels it physically “each and every day” but added: “I still love competing, I love playing, I love being a part of the game of golf.
“This is the game of a lifetime and I don’t ever want to stop playing.”
