by Tiger Woods has hinted that he will extend his golf career when he turns 50. But never have his words been stronger than those of Jack Nicklaus, the man Tiger goes after when it comes to major championships.
Nicklaus was a guest of Nick Faldo when he started talking about Tiger using a golf cart due to his physical limitations.
“I told him, ‘Tiger, you’re eligible to take a cart,’” North Palm Beach resident Nicklaus said on Faldo’s podcast. “He says, ‘I’m not going to do that.'”
Nicklaus continues: “He says, ‘When I get to the senior tour, I’ll do it.'”
Faldo then asked, “Are you actually thinking you’d be back at 50?”
Said Nicklaus: “He wants to play the senior tour.”
Tour Champions players can use a cart. On the PGA Tour, if they have a disability, they must apply to travel during a competitive round. Woods certainly could do that now, but he refuses.
Woods is 47 years old. He will be eligible for the Tour Champions when he turns 50 on December 30, 2025. He has shown that he can still swing a club even after multiple back surgeries and a horrific car accident in which he nearly died. .
But recovering from those injuries, more specifically that accident outside of Los Angeles two years ago in which he suffered two broken legs and a shattered ankle, has been the challenge. Since the accident, Tiger’s biggest test has been walking five rounds (including one practice) in five or six days.
The Jupiter Island resident has played four events in the past year, the Masters, PGA Championship and Open Championship in 2022, and the Genesis Invitational last month.
Tiger missed the cut at the Open Championship in July; he retired after three rounds at the PGA Championship last May, visibly limping and in pain; and played all four rounds at the Masters and the Genesis.
He shot a pair of 78s in the last two rounds of the Masters. At Riviera, he had a strong third round (67) before posting a 73 on the final day.
“Certainly it was a little bit more difficult than I probably made it out to be,” Woods said after finishing 45th at Genesis. “My team has been fantastic in getting my body back on a day-to-day basis and getting me ready to play every day.
“That’s the hard part that I can’t simulate at home. Even if I played four days at home, it’s not the same as the adrenaline, it’s not the same as the system increases like that, the intensity, just the focus that it takes to play at this level. I’m very good at simulating that at home, but it’s not the same as being out here and doing it.”
Tiger’s next tournament will be the Masters in three weeks. With 15 major titles, he trails Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18. His 82 career PGA Tour wins are tied with Sam Snead for the most.
The story originally appeared on GolfWeek
