Tiger Woods: Leg amputation was 'on the table' following February car crash
On Tuesday, Tiger Woods held his first news conference since his serious single-car crash in February. The soon-to-be 46-year-old detailed the rehabilitation process that he's gone through since the rollover accident near Los Angeles and admitted some harsh realities that face him in the years to come.
Woods spoke Tuesday from the Bahamas, where he will be the host of the Hero World Challenge tournament this week. During his talk, Woods said after the crash, that amputation of one his injured legs was "on the table".
"It's hard to explain how difficult it's been," Woods said, per The Athletic. "Just to be immobile for three months, just lay there, and I was looking forward to getting outside. That was a goal of mine."
According to the article from The Athletic, Woods had "open fractures in the upper and lower portions of his right leg, and additional injuries to his foot and ankle which required screws and pins to be inserted." The winner of 15 majors said he was in the hospital for three weeks but was in a hospital bed for three months.
Woods didn't begin to walk on crutches until two months following the accident.
"I don’t foresee this leg ever being what it used to be, hence I’ll never have back what it used to be, and the clock’s ticking, I’m getting older," Woods said. "I’m not getting any younger. All that combined means that a full schedule and a full practice schedule and the recovery that it would take to do that, no, I don’t have any desire to do that."
Woods was also asked on Tuesday whether he thought the rehab process needed to play golf again was worth it again.
"We had a talk within the family, all of us sat down and said, if this leg cooperates and I get to a point where I can play the tour, is it OK with you guys if I try and do it? And the consensus was, yes," he said. "Now, internally, I haven’t reached that point. I haven’t proven it to myself that I can do it. Yeah, I can show up here and I can host an event and I can play a Par 3 course, hit a few shots, I can chip and putt. But OK, now we’re talking about going out there and playing against the world’s best on the most difficult golf courses under the most difficult conditions. I’m so far from that. Now I have a long way to go to get to that point. I haven’t decided whether I want to get to that point. ... I’ve got to get my leg to a point where that decision can be made and we’ll see what happens when I get to that point but I’ve got a long way to go with this leg."
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