(NewsNation) — Barely a year after a car accident broke both his legs, Tiger Woods is in contention again at The Masters Tournament. A physical therapist said it’s “remarkable” he has made it this far so soon.
“It just goes to show Tiger is not like anybody else,” Dr. Zachary Walton, the national director of quality and research at PT Solutions Physical Therapy, told “NewsNation Prime” on Thursday.
On that opening day, Woods shot a 1-under-par 71, leaving him in a nine-way tie for 10th. He had three more rounds to try to capture his sixth Masters win and 16th major championship.
The fact that a 46-year-old is in this position is unique. Woods’ injuries — both from the car accident accident and wear and tear from decades of playing — make it unprecedented.
To get a sense of the injury’s severity, Woods’ leg is being held together with a metal rod, initially casting serious doubts if he’d ever return to golf.
Woods himself told fans in a news conference in the Bahamas in November that amputation was a possibility.
He spent three months in bed recovering, dealing with pain and relearning to walk.
He broke two leg bones in that crash and one of his ankles was destroyed.
But in true Tiger Woods fashion, he got himself focused, and in his first interview after the crash, in November 2021, he said he had made progress.
Just over a year later, he is back.
“If you would have seen how my leg looked to where it is now … to get from there to here was no easy task,” Woods said during Day One of the Masters.
Walton said Woods likely doesn’t find swinging too difficult, but each round also includes walking the full course, which is more than four miles. He said it’s similar to someone running a marathon.
“Augusta (National) is a very hilly course,” Walton said Thursday on “NewsNation Prime.” “Now we’re going to see how does he handle walking multiple miles on those hills day in, day out, and still compete at a high level.”
After the round Thursday, Woods said, “I am as sore as I expected to feel.”
The next challenge will be compounding that soreness with as many as three more rounds.
“By the end of (Thursday’s) round he had a few wayward drives and that may have had to do with fatigue,” Walton said. “There’s nobody who’s set a precedent for an injury like this.”
Now the entire golf world is waiting and watching to see if Woods can make a run at another green jacket.