Will Tiger Woods ever return to action? That's a difficult call, but a two-time major winner said it's not trending in the right direction.
According to a story at USA Today, Curtis Strange said on a pre-tournament conference call that he's hoping, but unsure he'll ever see the Big Cat on a big stage again.
"I hope he gets back to where he can play," said Strange, an ESPN analyst. "We don't even know if he can play ever again.
"It's going badly. But especially here, where he can come back and be comfortable and just be around. The people can't get enough of him. We can't get enough of him. It would be sad that he wouldn't come back here and play in the future, but what the future holds, we have no idea."
Here's more from the story:
Woods last won at Augusta in 2019 with an improbable final-round charge for his fifth green jacket.But after having surgery last month to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, Woods is sitting out this year's Masters as he focuses on rest and rehab.
Perhaps a bigger issue than returning to Augusta is whether Woods will ever tee it up again on the PGA Tour."Now we're getting to the point that this next rehab is going to be brutally difficult for him," ESPN's Andy North said on Monday's call. "He doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. He's done everything he needed to do. If he were to announce in the next month or two that, you know what, I'm never playing competitive golf again. I think that would be great, and no one would have an issue with that."
Woods, 49, hasn't played an official tour event since last year's British Open. He underwent back surgery in September and played using a cart at the PNC Championship in December alongside son Charlie.
"I think that the competitor in him – you know, you always think you can rehab. You always think you can come back. You always believe that you can do this," North said. "But I don't have any magic answers there. I would think that he's going to try to play some events after this rehab. Is it going to be a Tiger Woods that can compete? Deep in my heart, I don't think so."
Woods' place in golf history is unquestionably secure with his record-tying 82 PGA Tour wins and 15 major titles. Yet Strange believes Tiger can still bolster his legacy by continuing to return to the Masters.
"You know, these great players, superstars, always talked about they never want to be a ceremonial player or something to that effect, like it's a negative," Strange said. "I want to see him at Augusta for a long time in the future playing. He's not going to play the way he wants to, but I think the people would love to see him, much like they saw Jack and Arnie, especially Arnie, for a long time."
Strange and North will be part of ESPN's live first- and second-round coverage of the 2025 Masters, beginning Thursday, April 10.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek:
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