Tiger to compete with McIlroy in made-for TV match
The Hindu
Woods skipped last week's Hero World Challenge, an invitational event he hosts in the Bahamas, due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
Tiger Woods returns to competitive golf after a five-month layoff alongside top-ranked Rory McIlroy against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth on Saturday in The Match, a 12-hole made-for-television event.
Woods skipped last week's Hero World Challenge, an invitational event he hosts in the Bahamas, due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
But 15-time major winner Woods, whose 82 PGA Tour triumphs match Sam Snead for the all-time record, will partner with four-time major winner McIlroy in the night event under lights at Pelican Golf Club in suburban Tampa, Florida.
"I can tell you one thing," Woods said. "I have the number one player on my team so I'm good."
Woods has been limited by severe leg injuries suffered in a February 2021 car accident. He returned at this year's Masters and walked all 72 holes but withdrew from the PGA Championship in May after three rounds with leg pain and missed the cut in July's British Open at St. Andrews in his most recent start.
Woods, who turns 47 on December 30, said his foot injury does not impact his swing but hinders his ability to walk without pain. All four players will use golf carts in Saturday's affair.
"I can hit golf balls," Woods said. "It's just hard getting from point A to point B so (carting) will certainly help a lot," Woods said.
He has worn India’s blues, albeit in an Under-19 World Cup, with K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat as his teammates. He has proudly adorned the Lion’s Crest — the famed Mumbai cricket logo — in all three formats. He has played with Yuvraj Singh, against Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid and has the likes of Rahul and Joe Root in his illustrious list of dismissals. He is also a software developer for an IT giant, based in California. Virtually every middle-class Indian over the last three decades at some stage dreams of being either a cricketer or an IT professional. Saurabh Netravalkar has been combining two dreams, even after relocating to USA to pursue academics at the prestigious Cornell University in 2015.