ORLANDO, FLORIDA (AP) – Images of Tiger Woods riding around in a golf cart at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club sparked a predicted buzz and a downpour of speculation about his return to the PGA Tour.
Following Friday’s pro-am round at the unofficial PNC Championship, Woods essentially discounted the prospect of a full-scale comeback, citing a lack of endurance and speed in his swing.
He noted that he wouldn’t be able to walk 18 holes at the Ritz-Carlton, which is somewhat flat, and that he isn’t in good enough shape to compete in a 72-hole Tour tournament. Woods was asked if he’d ever considered requesting the Tour to use a golf cart to play official events, given his present physical constraints following a single-vehicle accident in February that needed three operations on his right leg.
“No. No, I wouldn’t. No. Certainly not. No way, not for a PGA Tour tournament. “That’s not who I am,” Woods explained. “That’s not how I’ve always been, and if I can’t play at that level, I won’t.”
Casey Martin, a former Stanford teammate, successfully sued the PGA Tour in 2001 to be permitted to use a golf cart during events, and John Daly was recently allowed to use a cart for the 2019 PGA Championship.
Woods, on the other hand, stated that using a cart this week at the PNC Championship, which he’s playing with his son, isn’t the same as playing in a regular Tour tournament.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun.” “You get guys in their 80s out here playing, and we wouldn’t be able to see the likes of Lee Trevino out here if they didn’t have carts,” Woods remarked. “Having a cart helps them to be able to play with their child in this event.”
