By: Noah Thomas –
One of the most famous athletes in the world may soon be making his return to the golf course.
Rumors surfacing in the last few days hint at the possible return of Tiger Woods in June. The 40-year-old, 14-time major championship winner has not competed in a PGA Tour event since last August, when he finished in the top-10 at the Wyndham Championship.
Chronic back problems have plagued Tiger for nearly two years now. Following his third back surgery in October—a follow-up procedure correcting some mild pain left over from his second microdiscectomy the month before—very little has been heard from him since.
News on Sunday (fitting) let it be known that Tiger had registered to enter the U.S. Open at Oakmont. If it were indeed to happen, Woods would be making his return on the eight-year anniversary of his last major win: the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008.
As one could probably guess, the sports world caught fire when it caught wind of the news. The thing is, though, that just registering to enter the sport’s most difficult major does not necessarily mean he will be participating.
He played his first five holes of golf in 2016 on Monday at Bluejack National Golf Club. That isn’t even a third of one round, so keep your expectations low when it comes to Tiger playing in the near future.
Nuts and Bolts Sports will keep you updated as the news develops on whether Tiger will play or not.
Not everyone was as enthused, including the man himself. On Monday, ESPN came out with some supposed statements from Woods, who said he does not know when he will play next.
“I’ve got to get stronger and I’ve got to get faster,” Woods said. “I’m not hitting it very far right now. … Then trying to work on new drivers too, at the same time. That’s kind of a test.”
Woods has been working on a new swing for some time now. According to experts at Golf Digest, it looks as if the new swing is designed to relieve pressure from his back, as opposed to his original, powerful swing that did the exact opposite.
You can find a link to a video of his new swing here. Keep it here at Nuts and Bolts Sports for PGA news and updates.