Tiger Woods wrote a post recently on his website that reflects on the past year–notably, his issues with pain and getting his body to do what he wanted–and said he’s looking forward to getting back out on the course “pain-free”.
The golf icon said in the post that his goal is to get onto the Ryder Cup Team and that he doesn’t want to be on the sidelines.
“It was a tough year physically and took a toll on my body. I had to battle through a swing pattern change and get that organized, because it was awful at the beginning of the year. I didn’t play for the longest time because I was stuck,” Woods wrote.
Tiger Woods took to a course in North Carolina over the weekend, playing through with a rookie this time around. The once-champion player has had a tough go of it for the last couple of years, but experts say his game is looking up, even if he’s among strangers.
“I look on the Champions Tour leaderboard and I know every one of those guys because I played against them and I played with them. Now I come out here, I don’t really know a lot of people,” Woods said on Friday.
On his site, Woods also talked a bit about all the things that have changed since he first started playing on the PGA Tour, saying technology was only part of it; there’s also been a shift in the way players are treated.
“I think the biggest change on the PGA Tour from when I started playing is the level of focus on day-in and day-out fitness. Now, we have trainers and sports psychologists that travel with the guys.
Also the technology. When I beat Davis Love III in a playoff at the Las Vegas Invitational in 1996, he had a 43-inch persimmon head driver. The transition to metal to where we are now with 460 cc drivers and 45-inch shafts being the norm, and the ball going from wound to solid construction … the technology has changed dramatically,” Woods wrote.
For now, the athlete is focusing on bringing back his A-game and spending time with his family; he recently posted a sweet photo on Instagram of an afternoon with his kids and dog.