Tiger Woods has declared himself pain-free and claimed he can win the US PGA Championship after recovering from injury to make a surprise arrival at the final major of the year.
Woods’s future looked ominous on Sunday when he withdrew halfway through the final round of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. The 38-year-old was in pain from spasms in his lower back, the area where Woods had surgery on a nerve on 31 March.
It was widely assumed there was no chance of him playing here. Yet the 14-times major winner appeared at the course on Wednesday afternoon, when he played the outward half before chipping and putting on the back nine. Woods then confirmed he would make his 8.35am (13.35 BST) tee time for the first round.
Asked if he believed he could win, Woods replied with a firm “yes” before adding: “I’m not in any pain. That is the good part. I’ll just try to play well. That’s the only thing I can control. I’ll try to go out there and win this event. That’s all I’m focused on.”
Woods explained that Sunday’s problem, which occurred as he hit a shot from an awkward lie on the edge of a bunker on the 2nd hole at Akron, was caused when a bone in his lower back popped out. The issue was rectified by a physiotherapist, whom Woods has with him this week as a precaution.
“When I landed on the bunker, my sacrum went out,” Woods said. “So it pinched the nerve and hence the spasm. My physio put it back in and we’ve just been treating it. My physio is here. If it does go out [again], he is able to fix it.
“The treatments have been fantastic. Once he put it back in, the spasms went away, and from there I started getting some range of motion. It was a different pain than what I had been experiencing, so I knew it wasn’t the site of the surgery. It was different and obviously it was just the sacrum. I feel good. Once the bone is put back in, it’s all good. The inflammation has been down, I’ve had range of motion. I have got my speed, my power and I just need to obviously keep moving.”
Woods made the decision to play at Valhalla only on Tuesday afternoon. At that stage he requested an extension to the standard registration time for the event, which was granted.
“My range of motion was good [then],” he said. “My firing sequence was back to normal, the sequencing was good. If my sequencing is good then it’s all good. I was doing some video work, trying to make sure that my swing was where I wanted it.”
On his nine-hole performance, Woods was more low key. “I played all right. All right. It’s only Wednesday.”
Woods won the US PGA at Valhalla 14 years ago. In his absence during the early part of this week his caddie, Joe LaCava, carried out his standard pre-tournament background research on the 7,400-yard course.
“It feels great to be back here,” Woods said. “The fans are enthusiastic, they’re loud. It’s a totally different course than what I played in 2000. These greens are all different. I have my course book from 2000; it’s useless. There’s some new things that we have to learn out there. Joey has been here on the ground. He’s got a pretty good handle on it. We’ll run through some more of it as we go.”
Reacting to the news that his close friend Steve Stricker had been appointed as a Ryder Cup vice-captain, Woods took what could be interpreted as a swipe at Tom Watson and the captain’s other two choices as assistants, Andy North and Raymond Floyd.
“I think it’s great, it’s fantastic,” Woods said. “Because Strick is not only a good guy, he’s also one of our peers. You have Tom, Raymond as well as Andy, who don’t play out here any more. They don’t really know the guys.
“I think it’s important to have someone who is out here on a regular basis, who knows the guys, knows their personalities, knows their games inside and out. I think that’s well deserved. Also a pretty smart move as well.”
Woods will play alongside Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson for the first two rounds at Valhalla.
