Tiger Woods puts injury scare behind him at Players Championship

Tiger Woods insists he’s ready to go at Players Championship after neck problems forced him to withdraw from Arnold Palmer Invitational last week.

Tiger Woods gave the golfing world a scare last week with his announcement he was pulling out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Fortunately, the 43-year-old Woods arrived at TPC Sawgrass on Monday to prepare for the Players Championship showing no sign of the neck stiffness he complained about last week. Wearing wraparound sunglasses and black cargo shorts, Woods looked loose and relaxed after a much-needed week off during a three-hour session on the practice range. “It’s not painful now,” he said reassuringly after playing a practice round on Tuesday.

Since last Monday when Woods said he was withdrawing from Bay Hill due to injury, worries began to intensify that the back problems he suffered for years had returned. Woods, though, is quick to dispel those rumors but admits the neck stiffness had been bothering him for several weeks.

“It started a little bit in L.A. [at the Genesis Open] but it wasn’t a worry,” he said. “But it started to get a little tighter and tighter and tighter as I played more holes [at the WGC-Mexico Championship].”

The problem became so severe Woods felt missing the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a tournament he’s won eight times, was the only way to recover. It was starting to affect every aspect of his golf game. While his back feels fine, Woods says his most recent injury is linked to the back fusion surgery he had in April 2017.

“It was getting to the point where it was affecting my setup, my backswing, my through swing,” he said. “It was gradually getting worse. And that’s just because my lower back is fused, and so the stress has to go somewhere.”

One area of his game Woods feels needs addressing coming off the injury is his putting. Although he hasn’t played enough rounds to qualify for PGA Tour leaderboards, Woods would rank 80th on tour in strokes gained: putting this season. At his last start in Mexico, Woods three-putted six times despite finishing 10th. On Monday he started working with Matt Kileen, a putting coach who also works with Justin Thomas, spending more than two hours on the practice green with him. Woods says the issue with his neck only exacerbated his struggles with the putter this year.

“You can only swing or make the movement as good as your body is feeling,” he said. “I was starting to get a little stiffer and tighter. I was hitting the ball halfway decent but I wasn’t hitting it hard. Just plodding along and just kind of getting around. As my neck got a little bit tighter, yeah, I didn’t feel comfortable with my putting. My putting was uncomfortable going into that point. It just made it worse.”

The neck problem is a reality that Woods has to get used to as he enters a new phase of his career. A year ago he was just hoping to play on the PGA Tour again coming off of his back surgery; now he knows not only that he can play, but that he can win again. What he has to recognize is that at his age there are going to be weeks when he has to put the needs of his body ahead of the needs of his golf game.

“These are the challenges I’m going to be facing going forward,” he said. “The fact that I can’t set out there and practice for eight to 10 hours like I used to. I’ve got to pick my days and I’ve got to pick my hours. On top of that, there are times where I just can’t do it. I got to shut it down just like I did last week. I had to shut it down for the week and get ready for this week.”

Whenever a player with Woods’ injury history has to pull out of an event, it’s sure to ignite rumors that his end is near. Woods, though, insists everything is fine and ready to go as he tries to add a third Players Championship title to his resume this week.