18 November 2023 , 23:01
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Tiger Woods is poised to make his return to the PGA Tour this month, despite being told by former Ryder Cup rival Collin Montgomerie that he missed the perfect chance to retire from professional golf at the 2022 Open Championship.
Woods has not featured competitively since this year's Masters Tournament in April, where he was forced to withdraw from the event in the third round due to an ankle problem. Seven months on though, the 15-time major champion is ready to again at the upcoming Hero World Challenge.
Woods' career has been a stop-start one in recent years, having sustained life-changing injuries to his right leg after being involved in a car accident in Los Angeles in February 2021.
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Since the accident the 47-year-old has played in just five competitive events, and has been forced to withdrew from two of them midway through due to his fitness issues. Amid his battle with injury, Woods made an emotional return to St Andrews last summer for the 150th Open, a course where he has won two Claret Jugs.
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Despite the fairytale story Woods' week was a short one after missing the 36-hole cut in Scotland. Whilst the American struggled for form, he was given a hero's reception by the St Andrews crowd as he made his way over the Swilcan Bridge and up the famous 18th hole.
The reception brought a tear to the eye of the three-time Open champion, and one of his fellow stalwarts Montgomerie believes Woods should have used the moment to sign off from professional golf. Speaking on The Bunkered Podcast last December, Montgomerie said: "That was the time.
Tiger Woods was told to retire after The Open (Getty Images)“Stand on that bridge, start waving, and everyone goes, ‘So, is that it?’ Yeah, it is. It would have been a glorious way to go. The stands were full, the world’s TV cameras – from all continents – were on him, he’s walking up there on his own, tears were in his eyes obviously… you can’t beat that walk.
"I’ve done it myself. When the stands are full, you cannot beat that walk. I tell you what, that is a special, special arena. It’s a theatre. That was the time for Tiger to say, ‘Okay, I bow out.’" Despite the claims the Woods show goes on, with the 82-time PGA Tour winner sharing his hosting duties in Bahamas with competing too.
Speculation surrounding his comeback had circulated in recent weeks, after the 2019 Masters champion was spotted back out on the golf course on a number of occasions. Woods himself provided an update on his fitness last week, revealing that whilst his ankle problem had recovered, there were still issues elsewhere.
"My ankle is fine," Woods said. "Where they fused my ankle, I have absolutely zero issue whatsoever. That pain is completely gone. It’s the other areas that have been compensated for. But all the surrounding areas are where I had all my problems and still do."