Golf superstar
Comeback in the Caribbean: Tiger Woods in feel-good mode
Golf superstar Tiger Woods is making his comeback in the Bahamas. photo
© Matt Slocum/AP/dpa
Déjà vu in the Bahamas: Tiger Woods returns to the golf course. The superstar still has to cope with a setback before the trip to the Caribbean.
Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas is a comfort zone for Tiger Woods. Starting this Thursday, the fantastic golf course on the Caribbean island will once again be the scene of the umpteenth comeback of the most important player in golf.
Here on the beautiful fairways and greens, the now almost 48-year-old Californian is not under any pressure to perform after the long break. The conditions for the desired feel-good mode for the 15-time major winner are ideal: It is his own invitation tournament, good friends and selected players from the PGA Tour are at his side, and a relaxed atmosphere in the holiday paradise is guaranteed.
Déjà vu in the Bahamas
Back in 2016 and 2017, after his numerous injuries, Woods chose his own event near Nassau as a gentle re-entry into the tough professional business. For the man who was number one in the golf world for 683 weeks, it is the first tournament since his injury-related retirement from the Masters in Augusta in April. A few days later he had surgery on his right foot in New York.
According to his own statements, the pain has disappeared and his right ankle is stable again. All the aftermath of the terrible car accident in February 2021: At that time, Woods lost control of his SUV south of Los Angeles, rolled over several times and was hospitalized with numerous fractures in his right leg. An impending amputation was just averted. Just ten months later, after a long and hard rehab, he and his son Charlie competed in the PGA Tour family tournament in Orlando.
Woods will be at this event again this year with Charlie, now 14, shortly before Christmas – for Woods, the PNC Championship in Florida is a matter close to his heart. It is the only tournament that the five-time Masters champion has not missed in the past four injury-plagued years. “It is an incredible gift to be able to share my love of golf with Charlie,” said Woods. “Competing together against so many golfing greats and their families is something very special.” First of all, the tournament in the Bahamas is coming up for the current number 1328 in the world.
Woods’ virtual golf league delayed
Before the Caribbean trip, however, Woods had to accept a major setback: the start of the virtual golf league, which he founded together with Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy, was postponed by a whole year, to the beginning of 2025. A massive power outage caused the domed roof to collapse at the SoFi Center in Florida, where league games featuring prominent PGA professionals were scheduled to be played. “The postponement brings with it mixed emotions of disappointment and joy,” McIlroy said. “Above all, we are glad that no one was injured.”
In the Bahamas, Woods will concentrate on his sporting return. The charismatic superstar with the moving life story continues to captivate golf fans all over the world. It is the mixture of sporting triumphs, personal dramas, bitter suffering and fairytale comebacks that create the hype surrounding the 82-time winner on the US tour. A new chapter is now being added in the Bahamas.