Tiger Woods, fresh off his best major championship finish since the 2009 PGA Championship, is preparing to play all four FedEx Cup Playoff events and the Ryder Cup, a schedule that will require the 42-year-old Woods to play five of the next six weeks after playing three consecutive weeks culminating at last week’s PGA at Bellerive.
While that’s a lot of golf for anyone, given Tiger’s health struggles, it’s amazing his body has held up through a 14-event season so far with five more coming in rapid succession.
CBS golf analyst Sir Nick Faldo reminded the world earlier this week just how bad Tiger’s health was just last year at the 2017 Masters Champions’ Dinner when he joined The Dan Patrick Show to break down last week’s major championship.
“What he’s been able to do is, it’s unbelievable, remarkable,” Faldo said. “To go from a frozen back — I know he whispered to another Masters champion two Masters dinners ago ‘I’m done. I won’t play golf again,’ and here we are, 18 months later.
“He was in agony, he was in pain, the pain down his legs, there was nothing enjoyable. He couldn’t move. If you watched footage of him, he couldn’t even get in and out of the golf cart at the (2016) Ryder Cup when he was a vice captain.
“What he’s been able to do is unbelievable,” Faldo said. “To turn this aruond, to get this spine fusion, it’s completely taken away the pain. To have this mobility is absolutely amazing. Great on him, and great for golf.”
From “done” to nearly winning a pair of majors and moving up from 1,999 to No. 26 in the Official World Golf Rankings over the course of 18 months, this Woods comeback surely is amazing.
