Tiger Woods: I would have been fit for my Masters defence
Woods claims he would have been healthy enough to defend the green jacket at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods has revealed in an exclusive interview with his endorser GolfTV that he would have been fit and ready for his title defence of The Masters at Augusta National had the tournament gone ahead as initially planned in the schedule this week.
Woods, 44, has not played a competitive round on the PGA Tour since February 16 when finishing last of those that made the cut in 68th place.
The World No.11 then decided to take a break from action due to sustaining a back injury several weeks before the coronavirus outbreak brought an immediate suspension to the golf calendar.
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But the 15-time major champion admits he has been able to play lots of golf during this unwanted break in the schedule, explaining how his local track Medalist is still open for play.
"Night and day. I feel a lot better than I did then," said Woods, looking back to last month when being forced out of both the WGC-Mexico Championship and Players Championship due to back stiffness.
"I've been able to turn a negative into a positive and been able to train a lot and get my body to where I think it should be at. I've been able to play some golf.
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"Fortunately, Medalist Golf Club is still open here -- virtually every course to the south of us is closed, but we remain open, so it's been nice to go out there and hit some golf balls a little bit.
"You need to get some fresh air and do something. Obviously we have our social distancing; you can't touch rakes or touch the flags. One person per cart, but at least the members and their kids are able to play a little bit, get out there and do something active.
"Some want to walk the dog, some want to roam the golf course, just doing some daily activity to get some exercise and give you peace of mind."
As for The Masters being pushed back for a November slot in the schedule, Woods claims he will just be happy to defend his green jacket whenever he possibly can when the health crisis is over.
"This is not the way that I would've wanted to keep the jacket for a longer period of time," said Woods.
"I wanted to get out there and compete for it and earn it again, like I did in '02 [when he became just the third player to win back-to-back Masters].
"But it's not a normal circumstance, it's not a normal world. It's a very fluid environment, and it's very different for all of us.
"Fortunately, we potentially could have a Masters in November and play it then. I guess I'll be defending then, and hopefully that all comes about."
Woods also revealed he made the exact same Masters Champions Dinner as he had planned for the tournament while at home with his family while donning his green jacket.
"I had exactly the same," said Woods. "We had steak and chicken pieces, sushi and sashimi. We had cupcakes and milkshakes for dessert. So it was exactly what I was going to serve.
"As I said, Masters dinner quarantine-style with my family. We had a lot of fun, and eventually it got a little bit interesting at the end, a little ugly, where icing was flowing across people's hair and face."
