8 Biggest Takeaways From Tiger Woods’ Press Conference

Tiger Woods is back in the news as he prepares to host the Hero World Challenge at Albany in the Bahamas. He had been due to play in the tournament, but he has developed plantar fasciitis in his right foot, which has forced him to withdraw.

Nevertheless, he still had plenty to say during a press conference before the tournament and touched on many of the game's biggest issues. Here are eight of the biggest takeaways from Woods’ press conference.

‘Greg Has To Go’

Like Rory McIlroy, Woods appears adamant that there will be no breakthrough in the stalemate between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf unless the latter’s CEO makes way for someone new. Woods said: “I think Greg has to go, first of all, and then obviously litigation against us and then our countersuit against them, those would then have to be at a stay as well. So then we can talk, we can all talk freely.”

He wasn’t finished there and reiterated his stance later on. When asked if the PGA Tour and LIV Golf could coexist, he said: “Right now as it is, not right now, not with their leadership, not with Greg there and his animosity towards the Tour itself. I don’t see that happening. As Rory said and I said it as well, I think Greg’s got to leave and then we can eventually, hopefully, have a stay between the two lawsuits and figure something out. But why would you change anything if you’ve got a lawsuit against you? They sued us first.”

The Official World Golf Ranking Is 'Flawed'

Woods also addressed another of the game's controversial talking points in 2022 - the perceived unfairness of the Official World Golf Ranking, which some players have argued is weighted heavily in favour of the PGA Tour. He said: ”Yeah, OWGR, it’s a flawed system. That’s something we all here recognise. The field at Dubai got less points than Sea Island and more of the top players were there in Dubai, so obviously there’s a flawed system. 

"How do you fix it? You know, those are meetings we’re going to have to have. We’re going to have to have it with the World Golf committee and as well as our - the main tours that are involved in it somehow come up with a better system than is in place now.”

He Won’t Use A Cart On The PGA Tour

Woods has struggled at times in the three tournaments he has played since returning from a leg injury sustained in 2021. However, he has ruled out using a golf cart in PGA Tour events. 

When asked if he would consider using a cart, he said: “On the PGA Tour, no. On the sanctioned events where it’s allowed, yes, which is the Champions Tour, PNC, things of that nature. I will never take a golf cart until it’s sanctioned. It’s sanctioned on the Champions Tour and the PNC is part of that. As far as a regular event, no, I would never do that.”

He Thinks The PGA Tour Is Incomparable To LIV Golf

While Woods acknowledged the PGA Tour can’t compete financially with LIV Golf, he is in no doubt the former’s legacy is unrivalled, saying: “You want to compare yourself to Hogan, you want to compare yourself to Snead, you want to compare yourself to Nicklaus, you can’t do that over there, but you can on this Tour.”

He's Had Surgery Twice This Year

Woods confirmed he'd undergone surgery twice this year, but was coy about the nature of the procedures. The exchange went like this: 

Q. Early on when you were talking about your year in golf, you mentioned a couple of procedures that you had this year. I’m not sure I was aware of those. What procedures do you have?

WOODS: I had a couple surgeries, yes.

Q. Can you elaborate?

WOODS: Nope.

Q. Can you say when?

WOODS: In the past.

Q. In the past?

WOODS: This year.

He Has Huge Praise For Rory McIlroy

The Northern Irishman has emerged as a leading proponent of the PGA Tour this season amid the LIV Golf threat, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed with Woods. The 46-year-old was full of praise for McIlroy, saying: “What Rory has said and done are what leaders do. Rory is a true leader out here on Tour. The fact that he’s actually able to get the things he said out in the public eye, be so clear-minded with it and so eloquent with it, meanwhile go out there and win golf tournaments on top of that, people have no idea how hard that is to do, to be able to separate those two things.”

His Aims To Play The Majors... And Not Much Else

Following his leg injury, Woods admitted that he has to be extremely selective about the tournaments he plays in the future, with the goal of mainly targeting the Majors. He explained: “The goal is to play just the Major championships and maybe one or two more. That’s it. I mean, that’s - physically that’s all I can do. 

"I told you that, guys, you know, the beginning of this year, too. I mean, that’s - I don’t have much left in this leg, so gear up for the biggest ones and hopefully, you know, lightning catches in a bottle and I’m up there in contention with a chance to win and hopefully I remember how to do that. But again, giving myself a chance to get out there again.”

He’s Unsure Whether He’ll Play At St Andrews Again

Woods missed the cut in the 150th Open at St Andrews in July, and he thinks that performance could mark his farewell appearance at the famous venue. He said: “To be honest with you, I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it back one more time as a player in the tournament. You know, maybe I might - I probably will go back and play it at some point with Charlie and have a great time, but I think it’s, what, eight years away, I believe?

That’s a - I don’t know what this leg is going to look like in eight years. Hopefully it’s still attached, but we’ll see. And I just don’t want to go back and just say farewell, I want to win the damn thing.”

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