Tiger Woods was asked if he was in pain after finishing up his Masters after playing 72 holes over four days.
Woods said "uh-huh."
It won't be remembered for Woods' worst rounds in his career at Augusta National or his nearly unrecognizable putting on the slick greens.
This past week will be remembered for the determination he displayed while limping around the place where he had previously won five times. He wouldn't give in. Even though he posted his worst score in 24 Masters appearances, he finished the tournament less than a year after he almost lost his leg in a car wreck.
It is one thing to play with my son at a hit-and-giggle, but it is another thing to play in a major championship. A lot of different things could have happened, but I am able to play in the Masters.
Over the past week at Augusta National, what did we learn about Woods? What comes next? Here are the answers to those questions.
Woods said his days of playing a full schedule are over and he will only show up at the big events. At this point, the best guess is that Tiger is eyeing the remaining three major championships and possibly the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, an event that benefits his foundation, in late November.
Woods told Sky Sports after his round that he will play in the Open. He is unsure if he will play in the U.S. Open at The Country Club in June or the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May.
Woods doesn't know if it will be Southern Hills or not. I'm looking forward to St. Andrew. That is something that is very close to my heart. The home of golf is where I have won two Opens. It is my favorite golf course in the world and I will be there for it.
I don't know anything in between. I will try. I will try to get ready for Southern Hills and see what this body can do.
May 19 is when the PGA Championship starts. The last time Woods won the PGA Championship was at Southern Hills, where he won the second straight time.
The Country Club outside Boston is where the U.S. Open will be held. The Country Club hosted the U.S. Open in 1988 before Woods became a pro, but he played in the 1999 Ryder Cup there. He was a part of the U.S. team that came back from a 10-6 deficit to win. The U.S. Open will be the most difficult of the majors.
The Open will celebrate its 150th anniversary at the Old Course in Scotland. In 2000 and 2005, Woods won The Open at St. Andrew. The easiest walk is on the St. Andrew's links course, which is mostly flat.
Woods is likely to play in the Genesis Invitation at Riviera next year. The tournament helps his foundation.
When reporters at the Genesis Invitation were asking Woods when he would be back from his injuries, he reminded them that he was also coming back from a procedure on his back.
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On the weekend, Woods' limp was more pronounced, and it was clear that playing 72 holes took a toll on him. He described his recovery treatment as multiple ice baths and freezing himself to death.
Woods revealed this week that he doesn't have as much mobility in his ankle as he used to, and that he's never going to get it back because of the rods, plates, pins and screws that surgeons used to put it back together. He was forced to make changes to his swing to make up for it, which will put more stress on his back.
The ankle is not going to move, Woods said. It will never move like it used to. The ankle is always going to be an issue, but more importantly, if I play golf, it will be the back. It is fused. The levels above and below will take the brunt of it.
Woods had a procedure to relieve nerve pain in his back two months before his car wreck. He had a surgery in April of last year.
Woods said that his ball speed is at 175 mph when he hits it good. I already had back issues going into this, and now this kind of just compounds it.
Woods said his right leg will get stronger as he continues to recover, but his mobility won't improve.
Woods said that he could walk this golf course. That is not a problem, but hitting shot shapes off of lies puts a whole new challenge to it.
In February, Woods said he hadn't been able to do much in golf other than chipping, putting and hitting a few short irons. He said he didn't do much with his long irons, driver and fairway woods because he was still gaining strength in his leg and didn't want to put too much pressure on it.
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Woods drove the ball well and averaged 284.9 yards over four rounds. He hit 67.9% of the shots. It was the strongest part of his game. His iron play was good. He hit just over half of the greens.
Woods putting and chipping were not up to par. He needed 36 putts in the third round, which was his most in a round here since 1999. It was the first time in his career that Woods had five holes with three putts or more. He needed 34 putts on Sunday.
The cold weather can be to blame for part of his bad putting performance on Saturday. It probably had something to do with his lack of concentration.
To be able to play, and not only to play, but I put up a good first round. I don't have the endurance that I would like to have had, but I didn't know if I was going to play in this event.
We are excited about the prospects of the future, about training, about getting into that gym and doing some other stuff to get my leg stronger, which we haven't been able to do because it needed more time. I think it needs a couple more days to heal, but we will get back after it, and we will get into it.
Some players have suggested in the past that the PGA Tour should give the top prize from the impact program bonus pool to Woods for the next five years or so. He won the most money even though he didn't play in a PGA Tour event. He got $8 million in 2021. The top spot will make $10 million in 2022.
It was only April, but anyone else was going to have a hard time catching up to Woods as soon as he showed up at Augusta National a week ago with a father and son. It might have been the icing on the cake if Woods had said that he was coming to Augusta a week ago to continue practicing for the Masters.
Augusta National patrons were happy to see him this week, even though they weren't sure if they'd ever see him again.
It was an unbelievable feeling, because I had the same questions. I wasn't playing my best out there, but just to have the support and the appreciation from the fans.
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