Tiger Woods announced ahead of last week’s Hero World Challenge that he intends to play one event a month in 2024, and the American backed up this claim following the end of play on Sunday
Tiger Woods has confirmed he still intends to stick to his one-event-a-month plan for 2024 after completing his first tournament in 10 months at last week’s Hero World Challenge.
Woods was competing for the first time since withdrawing from this year’s Masters in April, where he suffered a severe ankle issue. It was the first time the 82-time PGA Tour star had finished a 72-hole event since the Genesis Invitational in February thanks to his fitness woes.
Heading into the event, the 47-year-old told reporters than he had planned to play in one tournament each month during the 2024 campaign, a claim that shocked many amid his recent injury issues.
“I think that the best scenario would be maybe a tournament a month. I think that’s realistic,” Woods said ahead of his comeback in the Bahamas last week. “You would have to start with maybe at Genesis and then something in March near the Players.
“Again, we have it set up right now the biggest events are one per month. It sets itself up for that. Now, I need to get myself ready for all that. I think this week is a big step in that direction.” This of course came before he had hit a ball or walked a hole around Albany Golf Club, something that had proved an issue in Woods’ outings since suffering injuries in a car accident in February 2021.
But, after completing all 72 holes Woods had a positive update for his fans, reinstating his attention to play every month after the New Year. Quizzed on whether he would stick to his pre-tournament claims, he responded: “Yeah. I think that I can get into the rhythm of it.
“I think that having a couple of weeks off to recover, a week to build up, there’s no reason why I can’t get into that rhythm. It’s just a matter of getting in better shape basically. I feel like my game’s not that faroff, but I need to get in better shape.”
There was further positive news from the 15-time major champion, after revealing he felt his pace of play around the course was improving day-by-day, with his ankle injury not appearing to be causing an issue. “I haven’t [competed] in a while.
“I haven’t done it with my lower leg how it is currently and I was energized every single day to sort of get throughit and sort of begin sorting balances once more. I haven’t done this in quite a while so it was enjoyable to feel that once more. Consistently I got quicker into the round.
“The main day took me some time to understand it,second day was quicker, today was immediately. What’s more, that is at last, when I play on a regularbasis, that is typically the way things are. It takes me for the most part during warmup before I figure out theround. Frankly, that first day took me some time.”