The legendary golfer shared sweet moments with his son, Charlie, ahead of his first golf tournament since his devastating car crash.
Tiger Woods is getting ready for his first golf competition after his devastating car accident in February, and he's doing it with his 12-year-old son, Charlie, by his side.
This weekend, the two are competing in the PNC Championship, which consists of 20 teams of parents and children with at least one of them being a major champion or Players Championship winner. Last year, the two finished seventh in the tournament.
Woods and his son were snapped practicing at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, having fun and also concentrating intensely. In a statement about his first competition since the car accident, Woods shared, "Although it's been a long and challenging year, I am very excited to close it out by competing in the @PNCchampionship with my son Charlie. I'm playing as a Dad and couldn't be more excited and proud."
During a candid chat with Jada Pinkett Smith for his show, A Round With Tiger: Celebrity Playing Lessons -- which was filmed just one day before his car crash -- Woods revealed that he didn't coach Charlie in golf because he didn't want him to feel any pressure. But he did note that some of his own best memories are of him and his late father, Earl Woods, playing golf together.
"He just watches me do it, and then he kind of does it," he said of Charlie, agreeing with Pinkett Smith that his son was "a natural."
Following his car crash in February, 45-year-old Woods had to be pulled from his vehicle by firefighters and paramedics and was transported by ambulance to the hospital for his injuries. The vehicle he was driving was totaled after it traveled several hundred feet from the center divider, hit a tree and rolled over several times. According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, the primary cause of the crash was speed.
In a press conference last month, Woods talked about his severe injuries, particularly to his right leg.
"I'm lucky to be alive, but also still have the limb. Those are two crucial things," he said. "I'm very grateful that someone upstairs was taking care of me, that I'm able to not only be here, but also walk without a prothesis. [Amputation] was on the table."
In an interview with Golf Digest, Woods said he'll never be able to play golf full-time again.
"I think something that is realistic is playing the [PGA] tour one day -- never full time, ever again -- but pick and choose," he said. "Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that. You practice around that, and you gear yourself up for that. I think that's how I'm going to have to play it from now on. It's an unfortunate reality, but it's my reality. And I understand it, and I accept it."
He also noted that while he's come back from previous injuries before in his legendary career, this time he no longer feels the same need to prove that he's the best player.
"I don’t have to compete and play against the best players in the world to have a great life. After my back fusion, I had to climb Mount Everest one more time. I had to do it, and I did," he said, referring to winning the 2019 Masters Championship, which was his first major championship win in 11 years. "This time around, I don't think I’ll have the body to climb Mount Everest and that's OK. I can still participate in the game of golf. I can still, if my leg gets OK, I can still click off a tournament here or there. But as far as climbing the mountain again and getting all the way to the top, I don't think that's a realistic expectation of me."
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