Tiger Woods unsure of next outing following ‘proud’ return at Masters
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Version 0 of 1. Tiger Woods says he is in no hurry to play again despite being “proud” with improvements to his game that resulted in a heartening performance at the Masters. Woods had started just two tournaments in 2015 before competing at Augusta National, shooting a career-worst 82 at the Phoenix Open and then withdrawing after 11 holes of the Farmers Insurance Open due to injury. The 39-year-old went into Sunday in a tie for fifth with Rory McIlroy and eventually finished joint 17th after a closing round of 73. His performance at Augusta suggests he is in the kind of form that could allow him to climb up the rankings from his current position of 111, but asked when he would next compete Woods said: “It’s not going to be for a while. I have a little time off, and will go back to the drawing board, work on it again, and refine what I’m doing. I really like what I’m doing, I got my distance back, and everything is good. Now my short game’s my strength again, which is good stuff.” He injured his right hand in his final round on Sunday after appearing to hit a hidden tree root when playing his second shot out of the pine straw on the ninth. “A bone kind of popped out and a joint went out of place but I put it back in,” he said. “It hurt. It definitely hurt. I didn’t know there was a tree root there. I drove my hand or drove the club straight into it. It didn’t move. But my body kept moving. There was a little joint that popped out and I was able to somehow put it back in, which didn’t feel very good, but at least it got back in and I could move my hand again.” Woods hit just two fairways in the final round, the first of which was on the par-five 13th and led to an eagle. “Considering where I was after Torrey Pines and Phoenix, to make the complete swing change and rectify all the faults and then come here and contend, I am proud of that part of it,” he said. “I just wish I could have made a few more putts.” |