Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy announce lengthy TGL delay due to dramatic venue collapse
Tiger Woods has laid down a marker to his rivals on his return to golfing action by texting them at 4am and asking what they are doing to make themselves better. All-time great Woods has been on the sidelines since April when he was forced to withdraw from the third round of The Masters at Augusta National before undergoing major ankle surgery.
But the 15-time Major champion was back on the fairways on Thursday as he completed the first round of the Hero World Challenge in a three over par 75.
Woods may be walking around with a fused ankle but it hasn’t stopped him from hammering the gym, so much so that according to reports, he has been waking up fellow pro golfers whilst he is hard at it in the early hours of the morning.
As per the Mail, sports analyst and former golfer Brandel Chamblee has claimed that he has been told that some PGA Tour players received text messages from Woods at 4 am saying: “I’m in the gym. What are you doing to get better?”
Woods has been following a strict workout regime since starting to recover from ankle surgery, which includes 40 minutes of stretches, before cardio sessions and two to three hours of lifting weights.
The hard work appears to have paid off after he crushed his first drive in a nine-hole Pro-Am round on Wednesday 329 yards.
Despite setting the expectation that he only plans to play in one tournament a month next season, Woods still holds the self-belief that he can win more titles.
He said: “I love competing. I love playing. I miss being out here with the guys. I miss the camaraderie and the fraternity-like atmosphere out here, and the overall banter.
“But what drives me is I love to compete. There will come a point in time, I haven’t come around to it fully yet, that I won’t be able to win again. When that day comes I’ll walk.”
When asked by reporters directly if he felt he could still win tournaments he said: “Absolutely.”
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The 47-year-old made a solid start to his campaign at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas but dropped off on the last four holes. Woods had been one under par heading to the 15th hole but then bogeyed his final four holes to finish three over par in the small field of 20 competitors.
The Open champion Brian Harman leads the way on fiver under, tied with fellow American Tony Finau. Jordan Spieth is one shot back after 18 holes. England’s Matt Fitzpatrick is currently tied for eighth with Justin Thomas on two under par.
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