Tiger Woods is gearing up to defend his title eight full months after winning his 14th Major at the US Open. Woods announced that he is ready to defend his title at the Accenture Match Play Championship where he will be sporting a reconstructed and fully-healed left knee. Woods also has an endorsement deal with Accenture and is also expected to show up in Arizona for corporate obligations. The championship is scheduled to be held in Tucson, Arizona.
Woods’s colleague were happy to hear that the 65-time US PGA champion was literally back on his feet, although many knew that Tiger Woods was already raring to get back on the green a few weeks back.
“He was ready to go weeks ago,” according to Stuart Appleby. “I don’t think he needs to do a couple of laps around the track. He’ll be on that horse and he’ll be whipping it.”
Wood’s return is no doubt generating sighs of relief from the organizers of the US PGA tour, which has seen its ratings and attendance number drop dramatically following the absence of Tiger Woods.
Commissioner Tim Finchem expressed the collective sentiment of the whole organizing committee in his statement saying, “We are delighted that Tiger is returning to competition and look forward to watching him compete next week.” Now that he is back, TV ratings and media coverage are expected to pick up, especially since he chose the PGA tour to be his first competition after his recovery. Tiger Woods missed two majors in the season due to his injury: the Ryder Cup and the FedEx Cup playoffs.
After grappling with a painful knee injury while battling Rocco Mediate on the 91st hole in San Diego at the US Open, Tiger pulled off the shot of a lifetime to win his 14th major. He immediately underwent surgery after the Masters to repair the cartilage damage on his left knee. However, he also suffered a double stress fracture that further hampered his return. He again underwent reconstructive surgery after his defeat of Mediate and all hope for finishing the rest of the season was cut short in exchange for a couple of months of recovery. Soon afterwards, Tiger Woods’ wife gave birth to their son Charlie Axel on February 8, which further stopped any plans for an early return to the game.
Spectators and commentators are all eagerly anticipating his return and wondering what Woods’ play will look like, whether his swing was affected by the surgery and the long months of rest which is the longest amount of time that he has ever stayed away from the game. However, swing coach Hank Haney is confident that Tiger Woods will be more than ready, saying,
“He’s working on the same stuff that he’s always been working on, but he’ll be able to do it with a strong leg now.”
Woods has been a three time winner of the Accenture Match play, although he lost once to virtual unknown Australian golfer Peter O’Malley. The Match Play is notorious for being unpredictable, even for players with two good legs.