All eyes of the golf world will be on Tiger Woods this coming week during his surprisingly quick return from a walk-off finish the last time he played – a week ago in the World Golf Championship.
Only a few days after Tiger limped off the course midway through the final round of the WGC because of a fare-up of an old injury of his left Achilles heel, he played the first round of the two-day, made-for-TV Tavistock Cup on Monday without any visible discomfort.
Tiger birdied six 0f the 18 holes he played.
Even so, the potential of six rounds in seven days is a hectic schedule even for a completely healthy golfer.
While the golfing public will be focused on Tiger’s swing all week, I expect many foot doctors around the country will be more interested in the most discussed Achilles heel in the world.
Doctors surely are curious as to just how much golf can Tiger’s troublesome left Achilles can take before 1) inflaming again or 2) become a full-blown tear.
What boggles me is that this golf-ever-day plan comes on the heels (sorry) of him saying, “I decided to be smart about it and not risk further injury,” immediately after his withdrawal from the WGC.
“Looking forward to competing,” said Woods five days later.
Huh?
Give him credit for wanting to put the finishing touches that seems to be a winnable swing and possibly a winning attitude going into the final stretch before the Masters, but this week could end up becoming more of a setback in the long run, although the media interest will be huge from Monday through Sunday – if he makes it that far.
The urge to win another major — he hasn’t won one in four years — obviously drives Tiger. He remains four majors shy of Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record, which seems to get further away each time a major is played and Woods does not win.
The Masters is scheduled for April 5-8 and, barring further health issues, Tiger figures to be among the pre-tournament favorites. And this will be his final week of game action to get ready.
“I’m playing well,” he added. “It’s all starting to come together.”
Hopefully, it all won’t come apart this week.