Friday Nov 15, 2024
Friday Nov 15, 2024
Wednesday, 16 July 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The 14-times major champion will be making his second competitive appearance in four months at this week’s British Open and Woods is just happy to be back at the venue of his memorable 2006 victory at Royal Liverpool.”With this particular injury with my back I didn’t want to do anything,” Woods told reporters on Tuesday. “I couldn’t get out of bed and I couldn’t move around the house.
“That made me appreciate just how fortunate I was to be able to play at that high level for the better part of 17 years. It made me appreciate that a lot more.”
Woods famously won the 2008 U.S. Open, the most recent of his major triumphs, virtually on one leg due to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) problems that eventually led to surgery.
“When I had no ACL and my leg was pretty trashed I could actually still go out there and play,” explained the 38-year-old American. “I couldn’t do that with this back injury. “I couldn’t actually enjoy my life...the daily things of just moving around. It wasn’t a whole lot of fun.”
Woods missed the cut on his comeback at the Quicken Loans National event in Maryland last month but he is delighted just to be pain-free these days.
“The people who have had my surgery, they’ve all said the same thing. It changes your whole life, it just takes away all the pain,” said the world number seven.
“Yeah, you’re sore from the incision but you don’t have that radiating pain that goes down the leg. Once that was removed, even though I was hurting from the surgery, I knew I could come back and play. “It was just a matter of time before I got out here and was able to play at elite level again. Once I went through the procedure and I was just sitting in the recovery room and I didn’t have that pain any more it was a lot of relief.”
