Tiger Woods after winning the Tour Championship golf tournament in 2018. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Fourteen months after a serious car accident left him with a broken leg, Tiger Woods returned to Augusta, Georgia, last week for the 86th Masters Golf Tournament.
“It’s been a tough road, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to get through it. A lot of different things could have happened, but 14 months later, I was able to tee off and play in the Masters.”
In February 2021, Tiger’s SUV hit the median and pulled into the opposite lane in Los Angeles — hitting the curb and a tree, then flipping over several times. The tiger had to be pulled from the wreckage with the “jaws of life”.
He suffered multiple open fractures to the tibia and fibula of his right leg and multiple injuries to his right foot and ankle. Injuries require multiple surgeries to repair. A rod was used to stabilize the fractured tibia, and screws and pins were inserted into his foot and ankle. He also needed surgery to repair the soft tissue damage.
“My right leg doesn’t look like my left leg, let’s put it this way,” the Hall of Fame golfer once said.
He also told reporters, “I’m lucky to be alive and have that limb. Thank you so much for someone upstairs to take care of me… [amputation] on the table. “
It seems fitting that 2022 is the Year of the Tiger – a symbol of resilience and strength.
Who would have thought that, just 14 months after his accident, Tiger would get out of his wheelchair and start walking — let alone playing in golf’s most prestigious tournament?
Of course, Tiger Woods limped through the Masters. From a strictly golf perspective, this is hardly the Tiger many people remember. The guy who won five green jackets, the last time was three years ago. The Tiger, whose reconstructed right leg he could have lost in that crash, hobbled to finish with back-to-back 78s, the worst of his masters career.
He didn’t take home a sixth green jacket and didn’t top the charts. But his performance at the Masters was more than just what happened on the court and showed that victory is more than a trophy.
It is about overcoming adversity, courage and determination.
It shows the world that the tiger is back.
