Sports

Golf: Tiger Woods still has no timetable to return

April 19, 2017

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LOS ANGELES: Tiger Woods still has no timetable for a return to tournament golf, saying he still has “good days and bad days” with his surgically repaired back.

Speaking Tuesday at the unveiling of his design for a new course in Missouri, Woods sounded resigned to the uncertainty.

“The back is progressing. I have good days and bad days,” the 14-time major champion said. “I’ve had three back operations and that s just kind of the nature of the business, unfortunately. That’s all I can say.” Woods, who hasn’t played since withdrawing from the Dubai Desert Classic on February 3 with ongoing back spasms, hit a couple of shots in public for the first time in months.

His first found the water. “The second shot I stiffed it, so …” said Woods, who briefly returned to competition in December after missing all of the 2015-16 season in the wake of back surgery. At his first PGA Tour event after a 17-month absence, at Torrey Pines in January, he missed the cut. He then withdrew in Dubai after a first-round 77.

The project announced on Tuesday in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri will include the first public access golf courses designed by Woods s TGR Design. The course is slated to open in 2019 and will be named “Payne’s Valley” in honor of the late golfer Payne Stewart, who was born in Springfield, Missouri.