Tiger Woods' Immobile Ankle Causes Concerns Over His Ability To Walk 72 Holes At The Masters

Published|Updated

Tiger Woods only completed 43 holes during the 2023 Masters before withdrawing from the tournament after re-aggravating a plantar fascitis injury. Given that prospect, Father Time being undefeated, and the myriad of injuries and surgeries he's endured, there's always a cause for concern of his body not holding up over the course of 72 holes, and the same rings true ahead of the Masters next week.

Augusta National is one of the most grueling walks in professional golf, especially if you don't have any mobility in one of your ankles, which is apparently the case for Woods.

Tiger Woods Drives The 18th Green At St. Andrews During Practice Round

 Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

"He’s trying to formulate a strategy and approach that he can work within given the constraints that he’s presented with. And he’s got some constraints," Woods’ friend Notah Begay III said during a conference call.

"He’s got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have."

Begay did not hold back in his assessment of the situation as he openly questioned Woods' ability to walk 72 holes next week if he were to make the cut.

"For the past couple months, he’s been trying to find a way to recover," Begay continued. "He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be: ‘Can he walk the 72 (holes)?’ That’s still up in the air. But can he recover, from one round to the next?"

"That’s the biggest question that I really don’t know and he’s not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he’s prepared for this year’s Masters is going to work for him."

Woods reportedly played Augusta National last weekend alongside Justin Thomas and club chairman Fred Ridley. 

We've only seen Woods tee it up on one occasion in 2024, during February's Genesis Invitational, but that too was cut short. He complained of suffering from back spasms during Thursday's first round before withdrawing in the middle of the second round citing flu-like symptoms.

Woods has missed the cut at the Masters just once in his career, all the way back in 1996.

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.