Tiger Woods insisted on Wednesday he was pain free and targeting a victory in the US PGA Championship, despite his severely disrupted preparations.
The former world No1 withdrew after eight holes during the final round of last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with what looked like a recurrence of the back injury that has been troubling him since last year and which required him to undergo a microdiscetomy surgery on March 31.
And after playing a practice round yesterday on the front nine before walking the course on the back nine and restricting himself to just putting on the greens, the four-time PGA Championship winner said: “I’m going to try to go out there and win this. I just have to play well. That’s the only thing I can control. As you saw out there, I’ve got my speed, power. I just need to obviously keep it up.”
As for the back pain that surfaced at Akron, Woods said: “It’s not the site of the surgery. This is something totally different.”
The world No10 added that when he landed awkwardly in a bunker after a shot on the second hole on Sunday, his sacrum – a bone at the bottom of the spine – went out, pinching a nerve and causing spasms. His therapist realigned the bone, and he has been receiving soft-tissue treatment since then.
“I feel good… I am pain-free,” Woods said. “Once the bone was put back in, it was all good. Inflammation has been down. I’ve got range of motion. My physio is here, so if it goes out he is able to fix it.”
Woods is paired with Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington for the first two rounds, teeing off at 16:35 UAE time today (Thursday).
US Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson, who had previously said he would pick Woods for the team if he was healthy and playing well, will bide his time before making a decision.
“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen with Tiger,” Watson said.
“I don’t know his physical condition right now. I said right from the beginning, if he’s playing well and he’s in good health, I’ll pick him.
“Obviously, he’s not in great health right now and he hasn’t played very well. So the question is, will I pick him? Well, I can’t tell until things happen in the next three or four weeks.
“I am encouraged (that he showed up at Valhalla). He said to me he really wants to make the team in the worst way. These players really want to make the team.”
