Tiger good to go for WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral
Tiger Woods pronounced himself good to go Thursday for the first round of the $9 million WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in Miami. The top-ranked Woods withdrew due to back spasms after 13 holes last Sunday during the final round of The Honda Classic.
Tiger has received extensive treatment, is taking anti-inflammatory medication and feels well enough to compete this week.
“I feel good,” he said Wednesday at a pre-tournament press conference. “It’s been a long couple of days of treatment non-stop, just trying to get everything calmed down.”
Woods didn’t touch a club until Tuesday, when he hit 60-yard wedge shots and practiced his chipping and putting. He won’t play a practice round on the newly renovated Blue Monster course, but has studied the yardage guide with caddie Joe LaCava. The two will walk the course this afternoon, with Tiger limiting himself to more chipping and putting.
“We’re going to do a lot of homework today and figure out how to attack this place,” said Woods, a seven-time champion of the event and four-time winner at Doral.
Now in his 19th year as a professional, the 38-year-old Woods has battled through a variety of injuries, notably knee and Achilles issues. He won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines with a broken leg and is no stranger to pain.
However, last Sunday his back tightened up on the driving range during warm-ups and got progressively worse.
“A bad back is something that is no joke,” said Tiger, who first experienced back problems in college at Stanford. “There are certain movements you just can’t do.”
Swinging a golf club is one of them.
“I thought I could play through it, but it just wouldn’t loosen up,” Woods said of last Sunday’s decision to withdraw.
It was especially frustrating for Tiger who shot a season-low 65 on Saturday at PGA National and could have made a final-round push when the leaders were imploding, but also because his daughter Sam was there watching him.
“When I was walking off I was telling Sam, ‘Daddy can handle pain, but I just couldn’t move out there,'” he said. “Trying to explain to your 6-year-old why you quit was an interesting topic. I literally couldn’t twist.”
Contrary to reports, Woods has toned down his gym workouts.
“Most of the stuff we do is all preventative stuff,” Tiger said. “I used to be bigger than I am now. That’s been constant through my career: What can we do to make sure I have a long career?”
Woods said his injuries arise partly from swinging a club and partly from age.
“It’s the nature of a repetitive sport,” he said. “We do the same motion. I don’t quite heal as fast as I used to. That’s just part of aging. We try to manage that all the time.”
Tiger has been focusing on next month’s first major of the year, the Masters, for some time. He and his training staff have a game plan and are hoping he will be 100 percent healthy on April 10 for the opening round.
“I want to be strong and fit and healthy to play that golf course and give it my best,” said Woods, a 14-time major champion. “I’m looking at scheduling and practice sessions and training. We’ve taken a really good look at it and tried to come up with a good plan so that I can compete and be ready to try and win my fifth green jacket.”
Barring a setback, Tiger expects to be full-go on Thursday at Doral, where he is scheduled to start on the first tee at 12:39 p.m. ET with Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson. There is no cut in the tournament, which Woods won by two strokes last year over Steve Stricker.
“Tomorrow I’ll be able to hit more full shots and go all-out,” Tiger said.
Last year, Woods received a 45-minute putting lesson from Stricker on the eve of the tournament and used a career-low 100 putts for the week. However, golf course architect Gil Hanse has redesigned all the greens and most of the bunkers and has added more water and about 150 yards.
“We’re going to have to go out there and figure that out,” he said.
