The superstar golfer had nothing to say about his February car wreck in first news conference since the crash<\/b>
\nNASSAU, Bahamas \u2014 Tiger Woods had nothing to say about the February car crash that shattered his right leg and he had even less of an idea what his future in golf holds except that he\u2019s a long way from deciding whether he can compete against the best. \u201cI can show up here and I can host an event, I can play a par-3 course, I can hit a few shots, I can chip and putt,\u201d he said Tuesday. \u201cBut we\u2019re talking about going out there and playing against the world\u2019s best on the most difficult golf courses under the most difficult conditions. \u201cI\u2019m so far from that.\u201d Woods addressed the media for the first time since his Feb.23 crash on a winding road in the Los Angeles coastal suburbs. Police said he was driving at least 84 mph when he crossed a median and his SUV tumbled down a hill. Doctors said he shattered tibia and fibula bones in his right leg in multiple locations. Those were stabilized by a rod in the tibia. A combination of screws and pins were used to stabilize additional injuries in the ankle and foot. Asked his recollection of the accident, Woods said curtly, \u201cAll those answers have been answered in the investigation, so you can read about all that there in the police report.\u201d When asked if he had any flashbacks to the trauma, he replied: \u201cI don\u2019t, no. Very lucky in that way.\u201d Woods said he felt fortunate to be alive and to still have his right leg \u2014 he said the possibility of amputation was \u201con the table\u201d \u2014 and to be able to walk into the press center at Albany Golf Club without a noticeable limp. From the waist up, with biceps bulging through a black-and-gray shirt, he looked like he did a year ago. Woods is the host of the Hero World Challenge, which starts Thursday for 20 elite players. He said he spent three months immobilized \u2014 a makeshift hospital bed was set up in his Florida home \u2014 before he could start moving around on crutches and eventually walk on his own. Two weeks ago, he posted a video of his smooth swing with a short iron. That raised hopes that he was on his way back. On Tuesday, he hit the brakes on any notion that a comeback was near. Still to be determined is whether he even wants to go through the work required to compete at a high level. \u201cI have a long way to go to get to that point,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, I haven\u2019t decided whether or not I want to get to that point. I\u2019ve got to get my leg to a point where that decision can be made, and we\u2019ll see what happens when I get to that point.\u201d What was clear was that any golf in his future would be limited, and it already was headed in that direction before the car crash. He played only nine times during the pandemic-shortened 2020, ending the year with a fifth surgery on his lower back. Even so, he could see a scenario of picking and choosing where to play, presumably around the majors, much like Ben Hogan did after his near-fatal car accident in 1949. Woods won the Masters in 2019 after back fusion surgery, and just two years after he could barely walk and feared his career was over. \u201cI got that last major, and I ticked off two more events along the way,\u201d he said. The other two were the Tour Championship in 2018, when he outplayed Rory McIlroy in the final round at East Lake, and the Zozo Championship in Japan in fall 2019 for his 82nd career PGA Tour victory to tie Sam Snead\u2019s record. Can he win again? \u201cI\u2019ve got to be good enough to do it, OK? So I\u2019ve got to prove to myself in practice that I\u2019m good enough,\u201d he said. His right leg will never be what it once was. Ditto for his left knee, which has gone through five surgeries, one of them a week after he won the 2008 U.S. Open despite having shredded ligaments and a double stress fracture. He said his back won\u2019t be the same either, and it still ached even as he sat at a table for his news conference. Woods turns 46 on Dec.30. \u201cAll that combined means that a full schedule and a full practice schedule and the recovery that it would take to do that, no, I don\u2019t have any desire to do that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut to ramp up for a few events a year… there\u2019s no reason that I can\u2019t do that and feel ready. \u201cI\u2019ve come off long layoffs and I\u2019ve won or come close to winning before,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I know the recipe for it. I\u2019ve just got to get to a point where I feel comfortable enough where I can do that again.\u201d Since the accident, Woods gave an interview to Golf Digest (with which he has a financial deal) in May and a video interview with the Discovery-owned outlet that was published Monday. He also was in touch with U.S. players at the Ryder Cup and says the players with whom he\u2019s close have kept in touch. But he hasn\u2019t lost his intense desire for privacy, including what exactly happened when he was speeding along that suburban LA road. He said friends kept him from what was being said and written about him, and he refused to watch anything on TV except for sports. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to go down that road. I wasn\u2019t mentally ready for that road yet,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of things in my body hurt at that time, and whether I was on medication or not, it still hurt…. I didn\u2019t want to have my mind go there yet. It wasn\u2019t ready.\u201d Meanwhile, the Masters is four months away, and to hear Woods speak about the long road ahead, anything but the Masters Club dinner for champions seemed unlikely. Woods said everything was a short-term goal. \u201cThis year\u2019s been a year I would like to turn the page on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n