19 Dec 2023

Tiger Woods still believes he can win on PGA Tour

5:58 am on 19 December 2023
Tiger Woods in 2019.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Tiger Woods believes he can still win on the PGA Tour but will only play one event per month in 2024 as he continues his recovery from ankle surgery.

The 15-time major champion has had a limited schedule since suffering a leg injury in a car crash in 2021.

He carded a final-round 61 alongside his 14-year-old son Charlie at the PNC Championship in Orlando on Sunday.

"If I'm able to practise and do the things I know I can do, and prepare, I know I can still do it," Woods said.

"I can still hit the golf ball. It's just a matter of prepping and get enough reps in and get enough work in and being right physically, and the endurance capability of it.

"I haven't had the leg good enough where I've been able to compete and play a lot of rounds.

"I can still hit the golf ball. I can still chip. I can still putt.

"Granted it's also putting it all together for 72 holes. That's the challenging part of it."

Woods' last win on the PGA Tour was at the 2019 Zozo Championship in Japan, which saw him equal Sam Snead's record of 82 Tour victories.

He made his latest injury comeback at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas earlier this month, having withdrawn during the Masters in April before having ankle fusion surgery.

The American says his ankle continues to hold up well, though he was able to use a golf cart at the PNC Championship, something he is not allowed to do on the PGA Tour.

"A lot of things are aching a lot more than my ankle, which is the way it goes," said Woods, who turns 48 on 30 December.

"We've been working out hard, been able to recover. We've been training every day, which is great.

"It's been nice to knock off a lot of the rust and some of the doubt that I've had because, quite frankly, I haven't hit a shot that counted in a long time."

As well as playing alongside son Charlie, Woods' 16-year-old daughter Sam was caddying at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club as Team Woods finished tied for fifth at the 36-hole event formerly known as the Father/Son Challenge.

"To have both my kids out there the last two days has been so special," added Woods.

"Just grateful for us to be able to have these types of experiences."

The tournament was won by Germany's two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer, 66, and his son Jason.

This story first appeared on the BBC