Tiger Woods exited early from the Masters due to his plantar fasciitis flaring up — a whole separate injury from his surgically repaired leg — and it’s just the latest example of Woods’ body limiting how much the 15-time major champ can play competitively.
“It is what it is,” Woods said on Tuesday of last week, speaking of his leg. “I wish it could be easier. I’ve got three more years, where I get the little buggy and be out there with Fred [Couples]. But until then, no buggy.”
Woods smiled when he made that comment, but there might be some truth there. He’s been somewhat coy about playing on the PGA Tour Champions once he turns 50 (he’s 47 now), and last month Jack Nicklaus said Woods “wants to play the senior tour.”
Woods has said previously using a cart would make a huge difference, since he can hit all of the shots but doesn’t always have the health and stamina to walk 72 holes. While he doesn’t seem interested to apply to use a cart on the PGA Tour, they are allowed on the Champions Tour.
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“I think he’s most definitely going to ride in a cart,” said Jerry Kelly, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour and 11-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions. “If anybody has deserved to ride in a cart at that stage, it’s that man right there.”
Kelly was the guest on this week’s Subpar podcast, and he explained a few reasons why he thinks Woods will play the over-50 tour a few years from now.
“He won’t [use a cart] on the PGA Tour because the records have been set without carts, and he doesn’t want any records to be tarnished by anything,” Kelly said. “The records on the PGA Tour Champions have carts involved, they always have. So it is not going to bother him in the least to take that and think, ‘Oh, there’s going to be an asterisk.’ There’s no asterisk.”
Another reason he thinks Woods will play is due to his competitive nature.
“[PGA Tour Champions] is the purest form in golf of competition between pros because most of the guys have made their living, they have done well, they still have the sponsorship, all that kind of stuff,” Kelly said. “They’re not playing for the money. The guys on the PGA Tour are absolutely playing for the money. They are playing for the titles, but hey, there’s a reason [purses] jumped up so high. They are definitely playing for money as well, to solidify their future. But the Champions Tour, there’s not enough money to get a lot of these guys who have done so well in their career that excited about playing golf for what we are playing for. It’s still more than what I played for as a rookie on Tour, so I’m ecstatic, I love it, but that is competition.”
Kelly says he doesn’t anticipate Woods ever playing a full schedule, except for maybe a few of the majors. He’d love the chance to play against him again, too.
“I want him to play every single week that I’m playing,” said Kelly, who won three times last year. “To actually win against him would make any win that much better; he’s the only guy I can say that about, but it’s totally true. We were rookies the same year, so he’s destroyed me my whole career. [Laughs]