Tiger Woods may have suffered substantial injuries in a horrific car crash, but fellow pro Justin Thomas believes the golf legend is not done playing the game just yet.
Woods suffered serious leg injuries in a single-vehicle rollover accident near Los Angeles on February 23, where his SUV crossed a median, went across two lanes of road, then hit a tree and landed on the driver’s side in the brush.
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Details of Woods’ physical condition have been scant in the months following the 45-year-old’s crash, but Thomas, who regularly visits Woods, was not prepared to draw a line on his friend’s remarkable career.
“I know that he’s going to try,” Thomas told the No Laying Up podcast this week.
“I don’t see him ever playing if he can’t play well. He doesn’t strike me as a guy who’s played at home and he’s shooting a bunch of 75s and 76s and he’s like ‘Okay, I’m gonna give Augusta a try this year.’ That’s not really gonna be him, at least from my understanding, what I know of him.
“He knows that there’s a pretty good chance that that was the last chance he really ever had, before that, of making another run, but at the same time I know how determined he is and I know he’s going to want to at least try to give something again.
“Obviously I hope he does. But at the same time, as I said after the accident, as long as he can be a dad and be normal with that again, that’s the number one priority, and the rest of this is a bonus.”
While Thomas admitted that Woods’ current routine was relatively repetitive, he said the golf icon remained in good spirits.
“He’s still his sarcastic a– self so nothing has changed there, so I’m glad to see that he’s still chipper as always,” he said.
“He’s doing well. Especially all things considered. It’s Groundhog Day, every day’s the exact same thing for him. But at least he’s able to — pictures were going around of him at [his son] Charlie’s tournament, [his daughter] Sam’s soccer tournaments here and there. He’s able to be a Dad somewhat again, which is most important.”
Woods’ next public appearance is yet to be determined, although it could come in December’s Hero World Challenge, where he is the tournament host.