Tiger Woods has spoken about the grueling recovery process from the car crash earlier this year that left him with serious leg injuries.
One police officer who attended the Los Angeles crash in February said Woods was “lucky to be alive” after his car hit a tree at 75mph.
The 45-year-old was in hospital for a month after the accident and he said the recovery process had been tough. “This has been an entirely different animal,” Woods said of his injuries in an interview with Golf Digest. “I understand more of the rehab processes because of my past [golfing] injuries, but this was more painful than anything I have ever experienced.”
The 15-time major champion did not answer a question about whether he hopes to play professional golf again. The later stages of his career had been plagued by back injuries even before February’s crash. The accident left him with two open fractures of his right leg.
Woods has been continuing his rehab at his Florida home since March. “My physical therapy has been keeping me busy,” he said. “I do my routines every day and am focused on my No 1 goal right now: walking on my own. Taking it one step at a time.”
He also said that he had been cheered by the support he had received from around the world. “It’s been incredible,” Woods said. “I have had so much support from people both inside and outside of golf which means so much to me and has helped tremendously.”
On Sunday he congratulated his long-time rival Phil Mickelson on Twitter after victory at the US PGA Championship made him the oldest major winner of all time. The US Ryder Cup captain, Steve Stricker, has said he wants Woods to be one of his assistants at the tournament later this year.
Los Angeles county sheriff Alex Villanueva said last month that Woods will not receive a citation over February’s crash and blamed the incident on Woods’s excessive speed and loss of control of his vehicle. The sheriff’s department also said that drugs and alcohol were not factors in the crash and Woods appeared to be sober when officers arrived on the scene.