“Being here means a lot. At the Old Course I played my first The Open as an amateur with the likes of Bernard Langer, Ernie Els and Tom Watson. What we are about to play is the 150th edition of a truly historic event, probably the biggest The Open ever”
Tiger Woods, statements
These are the statements of Tiger Woods two days before the start of The Open, the fourth and last male Major of 2022 scheduled. in St. Andrews, Scotland. With Woods trying to be inspired by Watson himself that The Open has won it five times , most recently in 2009 and at the age of 59.
“We’ve all seen what Tom has accomplished. , which proved to anyone that business is possible. Physically I can improve, but not much “, Tiger explained to the serious car accident he was involved in February 2021 in Los Angeles.
And which put his career at risk, causing multiple fractures in his right leg between screws. and pins in the ankle and foot. “During my rehabilitation – said Woods – what I most hoped was to go back to walking and playing golf in a carefree way”
In December 2002, after suffering pain all season, Tiger Woods underwent knee surgery at Utah76. During the operation, the doctors observe that his anterior ligament is significantly damaged76. This medical condition forced Tiger Woods to make major changes to his swing of him at the dawn of the 200376 season.
If he remained among the best players in the world, his domination of him came to an end. The gave up his Nike driver, which he had been using since the beginning of the 2002 season, and returned to a Titleist77 club. Unreliable as a driver due to a tendency to slump to his right in his swing of him, Tiger Woods went so far as to lose a shot off the first hole at the British Open78.
Selected by Jack Nicklaus to play sudden death holes against Ernie Els in the Presidents Cup, Woods saved his team’s draw allowing the Americans to retain the trophy79. In this phase of reconstruction, the won no major, neither in 2003 nor in 2004, and ended up in second and fourth place respectively in the earnings ranking80.
In September 2004, he knows the record set of 264 consecutive weeks as world number 1 stopped at the Deutsche Bank Championship when Vijay Singh won and passed him at the Official World Golf Ranking. Many asks himself then there is a possible decline of Tiger Woods, advancing explanations ranging from the separation of him with his of him trainer Butch Harmon until his next marriage of him.