The Lunar Year, also known as the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac, officially arrives on February 1.
When it comes to tigers, what do golfers think of? YYDS, of course – Tiger Woods!
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, PGA Tour officials specially produced a video inviting Woods to personally wish all Chinese golf fans a "Happy Year of the Tiger". Tiger Woods' own Twitter also retweeted the video on the same day.
And this week, the Same week as the Year of the Tiger Lantern Festival, The Genesis Invitational, one of the three PGA Tour invitationals hosted by the Tiger Woods TGR Foundation, will also kick off at the Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles.
Although the recovering Woods himself can no longer participate as a player in the tournament with a total prize money rising to $12 million this year, as the owner of the event, he still attended a routine pre-match press conference in the early morning of Beijing time. This is also the first time in 72 days after hosting the Heroes World Challenge last December that Tiger has faced the media spotlight, and it is also his first public appearance in 2022 and the Year of the Tiger.
At last year's Genesis Invitational, Woods presented the award to champion Homer. But two days later, he was in a car accident
Although when it comes to the word tiger, it is easy to think of Tiger Woods, but in the long career, the twelve-year "Year of the Tiger" is like the year of the original life, which is not very auspicious for Woods...
In 1998, the first year of the Tiger after turning professional, the 22-year-old Tiger failed to continue the legend of winning the first Championship of the Masters and winning four PGA Tour titles the previous year, winning only one PGA Tour title (Southern Bell Classic), and had to give up the "PGA Tour Player of the Year" to his friend Mark Omira, which was the first time that tigers missed this award between 1997 and 2003.
In 2010, the Year of the Tiger was bitter for 34-year-old Woods: In February, he held a public apology for the sex scandal that broke out the previous year's Thanksgiving, and the otherwise perfect public image collapsed in an instant. In August, he divorced his wife, Irene, officially ending their six-year marriage. In October, on the eve of the start of the HSBC Champions Tournament, his world number one position was replaced by Lee Westwood, ending the longest consecutive 281 weeks of reign in history. That year of the tiger was also the first time in the 14 years since the tiger turned professional, and it was impossible to win a game in the whole year...
In February 2010, Woods apologized to the public for the scandal
Now, the time has come to 2022 again, and Tiger Woods, who once again ushered in the Year of the Tiger, is 46 years old. However, people's expectations for him are not as urgent and deep as in previous years, after all, at this time exactly a year ago, Woods experienced an incomparably terrible serious car accident, he can survive, can stand up, and even can re-swing the ball after only 9 months of broken legs, and then play with his son Charlie in the PNC Parent-Child Challenge, which is enough to make tiger fans all over the world feel happy and pleased - just like the video produced by the previous American Tour, his spirit of never giving up and tenacious recovery has been called a great victory. Shock the world.
But I believe everyone is also curious, after the amazing debut of the parent-child competition, what has Tiger Woods done this winter and the new year? At this morning's press conference, he did not hide these problems.
Last November, Woods competed with his son Charlie in the PNC Parent-Child Challenge
Woods said he didn't stop playing during this time, except that he often played "Wounded Warrior Golf," a game of golf tailored for wounded veterans who could use a golf cart. I can still play golf and sit in the cart. It's easy to play Warrior Golf every weekend, play one shot, get in the car, barely get off the cart, take out the club, hit the next one... It's not that hard. The tiger said, "The longest walking distance you have, which is to get out of the car and walk up the green and come back." “
In this state, there will definitely be reporters who will ask the question that everyone wants to ask - is it possible for tigers to return to the game? If so, when will it probably be?
The tiger's answer was good news, and bad news.
"Will I come back?" Of course. Will I come back to play the full season? No. Like I said at the Hero Challenge, this will never happen again. I'll pick some tournaments to play, whether it's a Grand Slam or other tournament, it's okay, but as a professional player playing on the tour all year, no, it's never going to happen again. ”
The wounded tiger is still inseparable from the ball cart
"I'd like to be able to tell you when I'll be able to play again, but to be honest, I don't know myself." He said.
Tiger also revealed that his right leg looked "somewhat different from the length of his left leg" due to open fractures and surgery. And almost a year ago, he "had some problems with his feet": "So most of my training is still practicing walking. I could walk all day on the treadmill, and that was easy, straight without bumps. But walking on the undulating golf course, I'm afraid I have a lot of effort to put in. ”
The near-fatal crash that left Woods without playing in any official professional competition throughout 2021 was his first since 1992 (at the age of 16) and the world rankings have fallen to 804th. But Tiger said he had been "very busy" even during his recuperation — a lot of the Woods Foundation's work that he needed to take care of. In a sense, this also fills in the competitive spirit he has always had.
"I have a lot of phone calls and emails to deal with. There are also one-on-one talks, including during this week's game. I didn't have much energy to do it myself at the Foundation before, but now I have enough time to do something and delve deeper into what we're going to do, how we're going to do it, and even redefine our mission. ”
Tiger's current priority is to run the TGR Foundation
Tiger Woods and his dad Earle founded the TGR Foundation together in 1996, and since 9/11, the foundation's focus has shifted from golf to education, with more than $150 million funded for educational programs that have helped nearly 200,000 children benefit. But Woods admits that the repetitive and long-term nature of the new crown epidemic has made these charity projects difficult.
"The pandemic has made it difficult for us to find trainers. Older teachers, in particular, are reluctant to risk getting the virus and spend more time in school. The world we live in today is becoming very different from the past, and I have been thinking about these questions all the time on how to find the best solution. ”
And what about outside of work? The thing tiger spends the most time on is reading!
"I pass the time with a lot of reading, I read a lot of Dean Koontz's novels." Dean Koontz was praised by Rolling Stone Magazine as "America's most popular suspense novelist", and his masterpieces "In the Name of Moonlight", "Mr. Murder", "Fearless", "Good Man" and so on have been introduced and published in China. It is worth mentioning that as early as 1981, in his novel "The Dark Eye", he had "predicted" the outbreak of a mysterious virus in Wuhan. "He's a Californian, and I've been to a lot of the places written in the book. I've been a big fan of him since high school. Woods said.
Before the 2020 commemorative golf tournament, Woods has already revealed his love for Koontz
As for the rest of life, whether it's with a baby or a hobby, Woods says, not much has changed.
"At home, I'm still playing video games, and that hasn't changed. I'm also a lot stronger than I used to be and can play more balls. But I didn't — I wish I could spend more time — constantly swinging at the driving range looking for form. Like I said before, it's unrealistic to practice hard now. ”
In the Year of the Tiger, we may not see the tiger walking in the professional arena for a while. But Woods also gave everyone a little hope, hinting that in the par-three challenge before this year's Masters, he might "walk" and try it.
Woods smiles at the future
"If it's just a practice day, no problem, I can do it." When the reporter asked, is this really talking about Augusta in 50 days? Woods nodded without hesitation, "Whether it's April, or now, I can go down the field and take a walk." ”
"Will my leg hurt?" Oh my God, of course it will! But I can do it all. The 46-year-old said.
Having said that, I sincerely hope that the tiger in the Year of the Tiger will not have much pain again.
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