AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Two words can go a long way when Tiger Woods is behind them. No one would have been surprised if Woods never played golf again after a car…
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Two words can go a long way when Tiger Woods is behind them. No one would have been surprised if Woods never played golf again after a car crash in Los Angeles that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors raised the prospect of amputation. Out of the public eye for nine months, Woods sent hopes soaring last November with a video of him swinging the club with a simple message, “Making progress.” And here he is at Augusta National, making a Monday practice round feel like Sunday at a major because of the gallery, walking the steep slopes, swinging well and making it clear he has every intention of playing in the Masters. Does he think he can win? Woods offered the shortest answer of his press conference: “I do.” He said Tuesday he is planning to play and thinks he can win. Never mind that it will be 508 days from the last time he played a tournament where he had to walk, or that he returns to this Masters with screws and rods still holding the bones in place in his right leg. Woods also is 46. He would be the oldest Masters champion by three weeks over Jack Nicklaus. The biggest question is how he holds up over 18 holes for four straight days. Woods walked 18 holes last week — his first big test — during a scouting trip with 13-year-old son Charlie (including a stop at the Par 3 course). He played the back nine on Sunday, the front nine on Monday. Woods plans nine more for Wednesday and then it’s “game time.” He is to tee off at 10:34 a.m. Thursday with Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann. “I can hit it just fine. I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint,” Woods said.
