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A22 SPORTS
Wednesday 13 March 2019
Woods no long feeling pain in the neck at Players

In this Feb. 22, 2019, file photo, Tiger Woods prepares to catch a ball tossed by his caddied on the second day of competition of the WGC-Mexico Championship
golf tournament at the Chapultepec Golf Club in Mexico City.
Associated Press

By DOUG FERGUSON Woods chose not to push fused, and so the stress has five tournaments before dealt with an Achilles' heel
AP Golf Writer it last week by skipping to go somewhere if I don't the Masters. problem and what he de-
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. Bay Hill, where he has won have movement, and so Woods played between scribed as a left arm issue
(AP) — Tiger Woods no lon- eight times. it's very important for me five and six times before at the 2013 U.S. Open.
ger has a pain in the neck. He had fusion surgery on going forward since the the Masters during younger "It's more just my lower
The trick going forward for his lower spine in April 2017 surgery to keep pliable or and healthier times over back," Woods said. "I've got
Woods is to make sure the — his fourth surgery on his else the stress is going to go the last 15 years. to keep that moving, even
soreness that caused him back in four years — and it somewhere else." "I've played three this year though it's fixed. I've got to
to withdraw from the Ar- allowed him to return to a Woods did not want to so far, and that's about keep all the other structures
nold Palmer Invitational level that saw him win last commit to a pre-Masters right," he said. "I was go- pliable, and that's one of
doesn't keep him from miss- year at the Tour Champion- schedule until after The ing to play three or four. the issues of having a pro-
ing more tournaments the ship, play in another Ryder Players was over. If I would have gotten cedure like I did, that the
rest of his injury-filled career. Cup and return to the top The Valspar Championship my rounds in last week, it forces have to go some-
"I'm 43 with four back sur- 15 in the world ranking. next week is where he was would have been four tour- where. I've got to stay fit,
geries so must manage Woods said his neck first runner-up last year. That's naments, so I'm right there I've got to stay on it, and
what I have and under- bothered him last summer followed by the Dell Tech- where I need to be. My have to stay as loose as I
stand that I'm going to at the British Open, where nologies Match Play, a finishes are getting a little possibly can for as long as
have good weeks and bad he was seen wearing kine- World Golf Championship bit better each and every I play out here."
weeks and try and man- siology tape, and at times for which he had not been time I've gone out so far this For now, Woods is trying to
age as best I possibly can during a big stretch of tour- eligible since 2014. year, and I've gotten a little keep his game moving in
and not push it," Woods naments during the FedEx Asked specifically about bit more consistent with my the right direction as the
said Tuesday after a nine- Cup playoffs. Match Play, Woods said, play. And I think that every- Masters draws near. He
hole practice round at The It flared up again at the "If nothing flares up, then I'll thing is headed on track to- has not finished out of the
Players Championship. Genesis Open last month, play." ward April." top 20 in his three starts
"There are times when and then got worse in Mex- Either way, he was not As for his health, Woods this year, though he not
over the years I pushed ico City the following week. concerned about being does not consider that a finished closer than eight
it, pushed through a few "It was getting to the point prepared for the Masters, major concern. shots of the winner.
things, and I've won a few where it was affecting my which starts April 11, as he Long before the back sur- The Players Championship
tournaments doing it that setup, my backswing, my tries to end 10 years without geries, he had four surgeries has returned to its March
way," he said. "But also, through swing," Woods winning a major. Assuming on his left knee, the worst of date, and Woods is the only
I've cost myself a few years said. "It was just gradually this week goes well and he them in 2008 a week after player in the 144-man field
here and there because of getting worse. That's just goes to Texas for the Match he won the U.S. Open at to have won it in March
it." because my lower back is Play, that would give him Torrey Pines. He also has (2001) and May (2013).q