Tiger Woods friend: "Next time we see him will be at the PNC Championship"
Tiger Woods' close friend and multiple PGA Tour winner John Cook believes we won't see Woods play golf in competition again until the PNC Championship in December alongside his son Charlie Woods.
Tiger Woods' close friend and 11-time PGA Tour winner John Cook believes we are unlikely going to see the former World No.1 tee it up again until the 2022 PNC Championship alongside his son Charlie Woods.
Cook, 64, first met Woods when he was at Isleworth during his early years on the PGA Tour and the pair have remained in close contact ever since.
If Cook's outlook is correct that means we won't see Woods play in any of the four majors in 2022 or any PGA Tour events for that matter.
The 2022 PNC Championship, which is an unofficial PGA Tour event staged over 36 holes, is not until the third week of December.
Woods, who sustained serious leg injuries during a horror car crash in Los Angeles last February, made an incredible return to competition last month alongside son Charlie en route to finishing second and two shots behind John Daly and his son John Daly II.
But Cook, who now works as a studio analyst for Golf Channel, believes the same tournament will be the next time we see Woods in action, despite the 15-time major champion recently hinting he would love to make the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews this July.
"I’d give it a solid 8 ½ [on a scale of 1-10 that he plays again] but I don’t see it in the next 12 months," said Cook.
"I think the next time we see him will be at the [2022] PNC Championship.
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"I don’t think his body will be physically ready. He can’t train the way he’s going to want to train.
"He’s never been a ‘show up’ guy if his game isn’t ready for prime time, but I see it happening at some point otherwise he wouldn’t be testing a ball, shaping shots on the practice tee, working on a new driver that he likes. I think there’s a motive to that."
Cook added: "Talking to him, he was pretty open and honest. He said he was exhausted. He saw enough good stuff with his short clubs and his feel, but the long irons were falling out of the sky, but that was just from some mishits. But he said, ‘I’ll get that.’"
