Tiger Woods comeback spurred by fan support

As far as comebacks go, Woods revealed he related to tennis stalwart Serena Williams the most.

Published : Nov 28, 2018 22:49 IST , NASSAU (BAHAMAS)

Tiger Woods ended a five-year wait for an 80th career title on PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods ended a five-year wait for an 80th career title on PGA Tour.
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Tiger Woods ended a five-year wait for an 80th career title on PGA Tour.

The golfing world considers the 2018 comeback of Tiger Woods as one of the most significant event across all sporting disciplines this year. After all, the man turned the clock to end a five-year wait for an 80th career title on PGA Tour.

But Tiger picks Serena Willams for her comeback.

Read | Tiger Woods: 2018 the 'most rewarding season'

Ahead of this week’s USD 3.5 million Hero World Challenge here, Tiger made his choice known from the options that included his friend tennis star Rafael Nadal and Formula One veteran Kimi Raikkonen.

'We like challenges'

“Great see some of my friends find the youth again. The one that I’m closest to is Serena. Serena and I live not too far away. We text each other all the time and see each other when we are at home. She had a choice. She didn’t have to come back. She didn’t have to put herself up again. But she chose to. Having a child and all the difficulties, trying to raise the child, trying to get her sleep, feed her child…
and she is also playing. And the training regime that it involves. I didn’t have to do any of that.”

Serena-Williams-Gettyjpg
Tiger Woods revealed that he related to tennis stalwart Serena Williams the most when it comes to comebacks.
 

Continuing on the subject of comeback, Tiger said, “There comes a point in time when you have to be up there by yourself. No one can bail you out. We got to figure that out. We didn’t have to put ourselves back out there again. We could have gone off in a sunset and let it just be. But we like challenges.”

'Loud and supportive'

Filled with “relief’ after a “rewarding year,” Tiger explained what he thought of the cynical critics and his loving fans. “I know, the critics have been mainly people in the media, just talking. The fans are different. The media tries to speak for the fans but they don’t have the fans’ voice. When I’m at tournaments, the fans show up and that’s their voice. They know, I could have just said I’m done. I’ve had a nice career. But they truly appreciate what I’ve done. Whey they came up this year, I’ve never heard them this loud and this supportive. Even on a Thursday morning at 7 o’clock they are out
there, they are supportive. And that’s something that has never happened in my career. They’ve been there in the past but it was a different vibe this year.”

Finally, Tiger made no secret of how keen he was to win a Major in 2019. “This year, I was hoping to play… and hoping to play major championship. I did that. On top of that, I challenged in two and I
led in one. That’s a lot more than I thought I would get. Next year, obviously, the expectations have changed. I would like to win one. There is no doubt.”

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