Tiger Woods' failure to win tournaments as of late has prompted speculations among his fans and followers that the once most widely renowned golf athlete might just have to call it quits and retire. Taking into consideration the number of injuries and other personal setbacks the internationally acclaimed golfer had to endure in the recent years, such a suggestion does not sound ludicrous at all - except Woods himself refuses to accept defeat.
Slamming rumors regarding his retirement, Woods actually made light of the topic during a conference at St. Andrews on Tuesday, according to USA Today. "I don't have any AARP card yet, so I'm a ways from that," he teased. Growing serious in an effort to put across his message more effectively, Woods reminded the audience that he intends to make good use of his remaining years to show that he can still wow the crowd with his skills. He said, "I'm still young. I'm not 40 yet. I know some of you guys think I'm buried and done, but I'm still right here in front of you."
Apart from addressing the persistent rumor in relation to his retirement from the game, Woods also took the opportunity to reassure his fans and followers that the injuries he incurred in previous matches are all healing up nicely. "I feel like my body is finally healed up from the [lower-back disk] surgery from last year," he disclosed. He then went on to say, "They say it takes you about four to six months to get back, but I've heard a lot of guys on tour who have the surgery and other athletes who say it takes over a year to get back."
He added, "I think they were probably closer to being right -- it being a full year to get back." Woods further said, "It would have been one thing if I would have gone through the procedure and then had the same golf swing, but I've changed the golf swing, too, on top of that. So that was kind of a double dipper there where I had to fight both at the same time."
Meanwhile, not a lot of people are impressed by the changes Woods has done so far in terms of improving his performance and dealing with his injuries. Brandel Chamblee, a professional golfer and sports commentator, pointed out that Woods' performance these days could not leave up to the ones he exhibited in the past, according to SB Nation. "Watching Tiger Woods go from belief to doubt, watching him build his body up and then watching it break down, and then watching him having to reconcile all of those difficulties and then try and manufacture a game and to see how much he struggles with that mentally," Chamblee shared, "he is a shell of the man that he was when he came here in 2000 and 2005."
