Tiger Woods, the golf legend who just over 13 months ago damaged his right leg so badly that doctors considered amputation, said on Tuesday that he intended to play at the Masters, setting the stage for a return to the PGA Tour unlike any other at the iconic tournament.
The five-time winner at Augusta National noted he will play nine more practice holes on Wednesday, a day before the competition begins, before making a final decision. Should that session go according to plan, he will be part of the field on Thursday and all eyes will be on his pursuit of a sixth Green Jacket.
“As of right now, I feel like I am going to play,” Woods said, while noting that his recovery from the crash that damaged his leg has gone well. “I’ve been very excited about how I’ve recovered each and every day.”
Speculation over whether Woods would compete at Augusta National had been building since late March, sparked by three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson removing himself from the list of players who plan to compete.
At that time, Woods was still on the active invited players list, though there had been no substantial indication he was ready to play in his first major since the accident that damaged his leg, leading many to conclude his inclusion on the list merely stemmed from him not asking to be removed from it. The Masters, unlike other PGA Tour events, does not have a firm deadline to commit to competing. Because it is an invitation tournament, players typically notify the club only if they do not plan to play.
But the possibility of Woods chasing another Green Jacket, which he first won 25 years ago, reached new heights when he flew to Augusta last Tuesday, saying he was heading to the course to continue his “preparation and practice” and that it would be “a game-time decision” on whether he competed.
“I love competing, and I feel like if I can still compete at the highest level, I’m going to,” Woods said, later adding that he would not “show up to an event unless I think I can win it.” When asked if he thought he could win this year’s event, specifically, the answer was definitive: “I do.”
The 15-time major champion has cultivated a reputation throughout his illustrious career for finding victory under challenging circumstances. The most recent of his five Masters wins, in 2019, marked his first major tournament victory in 11 years and came after undergoing multiple back and knee surgeries. Just two years prior, he had been ranked as low as 1,119th in the world.
Still, in an improbable and unparalleled career of dizzying highs and jarring lows, making a return from a harrowing injury at the age of 46 — especially at Augusta National, a long course known for its unforgiving elevation changes at nearly every hole — always posed a daunting challenge.
“I can hit it just fine,” Woods said. “I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint. It’s now, walking’s the hard part. This is not an easy walk to begin with. Now given the condition that my leg is in, it gets a little more difficult. And 72 holes is a long road. It’s going to be a tough challenge and a challenge that I’m up for.”
Woods, while recovering from a fifth back surgery in February 2021, drove his sport-utility vehicle over a median at high speed and it tumbled down a hillside in a Los Angeles-area coastal suburb. His right leg was severely damaged, with open fractures in several places of the tibia and fibula. He spent a month in the hospital, and has said that doctors considered the possibility the leg may have to be amputated.
“I’m still working on the walking part,” Woods said in mid-February, before the Genesis Invitational. “My foot was a little messed up there about a year ago, so the walking part is something that I’m still working on, working on strength and development in that. It takes time. What’s frustrating is it’s not at my timetable. I want to be at a certain place, but I’m not. I’ve just got to continue working.”
As the arduous rehabilitation process unfolded, Woods has appeared sparsely, managing expectations — external and, perhaps, internal — about his potential return to the tour.
In December, Woods played 36 holes with his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship. The format for the tournament was substantially different than the Masters, though, and allowed for the use of a cart instead of having to walk to each hole. During the event, Woods limped and struggled on some drives to push off with his right leg.
Earlier, in mid-November, Woods posted a short video on social media of himself taking a swing, saying that he hoped to eventually play competitive golf again but stopping short of offering a timetable for when that could happen. He also ruled out a full-time return to the PGA Tour.
“I’ve had a pretty good run,” Woods said in November, then nine months removed from the crash. “I don’t see that type of trend going forward for me. It’s going to have to be a different way. I’m at peace with that. I’ve made the climb enough times.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
