Tiger Woods will make his latest return to action with the aid of a golf cart as he partners Rory McIlroy to play Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in the latest edition of The Match.
The 15-time Major champion has not played since The Open in July, and had to pull out of his scheduled comeback at the recent Hero World Challenge due to a foot injury.
Woods will now use a golf cart to take part in the The Match VII – a televised 12-hole exhibition event being played under the lights at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida on Saturday evening.
The soon-to-be 47-year-old is suffering with plantar fasciitis in the foot – a tissue inflation that causes pain in the heel – and says that merely walking around the course is a much bigger challenge than swinging the club.
“Being in a cart is a totally different deal,” said Woods though, who will play through the pain thanks to the use of a buggy. “That’s something I’ve done at home quite a bit.
“When I was trying to gear up and be able to play in the Hero and see if I could actually do it, the walking part was the challenge, it wasn’t actually swinging.
“I’ve got to get this plantar to heal and that just takes time. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s going to take a lot of rest and healing and unfortunately, treatment. It’s a tough road.”
Woods, who was last seen on the golf course when missing the cut at St Andrews, says he can compete thanks to playing alongside McIlroy: “I can tell you one thing, I have the number one player on my team, so I’m good.”
Long-time friend McIlroy had equal praise for his partner for the event which will be a better ball matchplay format against Thomas and Spieth.
“He’s probably the best iron player that’s ever lived,” McIlroy said of Woods. “Probably the best golfer that’s ever lived. Period.
“I think if he can just get it out in the fairway, and get some looks in the fairway, I think we’re going to have a really good chance.”
Against them will be long-time friends Spieth and Thomas, who have grown up playing golf together and now are pinching themselves about playing a match against their big golfing hero.
“If you told myself and JT in 2012 in college that we would be playing against these two in a match, that would be a really, really cool thing,” said Spieth.
“We want to win it because of how much these two inspired us. It’s a unique and really cool opportunity for us to try to take down a couple of the greats, a couple of the greatest that ever played.”
Thomas…
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