When Tiger Woods limped out of April’s Masters, the prospect of him resuming anything approaching a regular playing schedule appeared remote.
However, after undergoing a subtalar fusion procedure on his right ankle soon after, the man himself is hoping 2024 could bring as much as one appearance a month.
Woods will make his first start since withdrawing from the third round of the Augusta National Major at the Hero World Challenge, where he gave the optimistic outlook for 2024, with the scheduling of the PGA Tour’s signature events a factor.
“I think that best scenario would be maybe a tournament a month,” he said. “I think that's realistic whether that's - you would have to start with maybe at Genesis and something in March near The Players. Again, we have set up right now the biggest events are one per month. It sets itself up for that. Now, I need to get myself ready for all that. I think this week is a big step in that direction.”
Earlier in the month, Woods revealed his ankle is now pain free following the surgery, and he reiterated that point, even though he admitted the lengthy spell out had affected his game.
He said: “My game feels rusty, I haven't played in a while. I had my subtalar fused. I'm excited to compete and play and I'm just as curious as all of you are to see what happens because I haven't done it in a while.
“I can tell you this, I don't have any of the pain that I had at Augusta or pre that in my ankle. Well, other parts are taking the brunt of the load so I'm a little more sore in other areas, but the ankle's good. So that surgery was a success.”
In previous comebacks, there have been concerns over Woods’ ability to walk the course for four days, and a year ago at the Hero World Challenge, he admitted: “I can hit whatever shot you want, I just can’t walk.” However, he revealed the surgery had solved that issue, but there was a knock-on effect elsewhere.
He said: “I'm not concerned at all about walking it. It's more, as I said, I don't have any of the ankle pain that I had with the hardware that's been placed in my foot, that's all gone. The other parts of my body, my knee hurts, my back.
"The forces go somewhere else. Just like when I had my back fused, the forces have to go somewhere. So it's up the chain. As I said, I'm just as curious as all of you with what's going to happen.”
Woods has the chance to work on his sharpness and test his body at this week’s unofficial PGA tournament. However, even though his playing comeback doesn’t arrive in a tournament with the intensity of a regular event, the 82-time PGA Tour winner revealed he had was not ready to give up on his dream of more victories.
“I love competing, I love playing," he said. "I miss being out here with the guys, I miss the camaraderie and the fraternity-like atmosphere out here and the overall banter. But what drives me is I love to compete. There will come a point in time, I haven't come around to it fully yet, that I won't be able to win again. When that day comes, I'll walk -- well, now I can walk. I won't say run away, but I'm going to walk away.”
Earlier in the week, it was reported that Woods ‘thinks he can play five or six tournaments in 2024.
