Fifteen-times golf major winner Tiger Woods does not care whether competing in the PNC Championship sets back his recovery from injury, as long as it means he can compete alongside his son Charlie.
Woods withdrew ahead of this month’s Hero World Challenge after developing plantar fasciitis and told reporters on Friday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, that progress was slow.
“I can practice. I just can’t walk,” he said. “It’s just one of those things where I need rest and I haven’t exactly been doing that.”
While he conceded the injury could impact his plans for 2023, he insisted that competing alongside his 13-year-old son was his top priority – even if it means he spends more time recovering later.
“I don’t really care about that,” Woods said.
“Being there with and alongside my son is far more important, and to get to have a chance to have this experience with him is far better than my foot being a little creaky.”
The pair finished second in the 36-hole tournament a year ago to twice major winner John Daly and his son, John Daly II, in what was Woods’ first competitive golf just 10 months after a devastating car accident that nearly cost him his right leg .
He produced a comeback for the ages when he made the cut at the Masters just months later, an extraordinary achievement despite finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard.
“It’s been a lot harder than people probably imagine,” said Woods, who struggled at the British Open before missing the cut in July.
“There’s some of the players who are very close to me know what I’ve gone through, and they’re the ones that keep encouraging me to back off a little bit.
“But that’s not really in my nature. My nature is trying to get better.”
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