There was a collective gasp of concern by golf fans after Tiger Woods stepped back off the tee shot on his final hole of the day during the opening round of the 2022 PGA Championship.
After swinging his iron at the ninth hole at Southern Hills Country Club, Woods took a step back and appeared to injure his right leg.
Woods had already been struggling in the final 13 holes, and wound up finishing with a 4-over-par 74.
Tiger Woods appeared to limp after hitting a tee shot on the 18th tee. pic.twitter.com/rQCDjWqjRX
— ESPN (@espn) May 19, 2022
"I just can't load it. Loading hurts. Pressing off it hurts. Walking hurts. Twisting hurts," Woods said, according to Tulsa World's Eric Bailey. "It's just golf. If I don't do that, I'll be OK."
Tiger Woods on how his right leg is impacting his swing: "I just can’t load it. Loading hurts. Pressing off it hurts. Walking hurts. Twisting hurts."
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) May 19, 2022
Then adds with a smile "It's just golf. If I don't do that, I'll be OK."#PGAChampionship
MORE: Tiger Woods' Round 1 results, highlights from 2022 PGA Championship
Despite the late injury, Woods said he still plans on preparing for his second round on Friday. Woods told ESPN's Marty Smith there will be lots of treatment and ice baths the rest of Thursday in order to be ready for another 18.
"It has felt better before," Woods told Smith. "It's a little sore right now and we'll go back and start the process of getting ready for tomorrow."
Part of the reason for concern over Woods' grimace was that the leg was the one that incurred the most damage in his near-fatal February 2021 car crash. Back in November when Woods was discussing his recovery, he said that amputation of his right leg was on the table.
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The 2022 PGA Championship is only the second major tournament in which Woods has appeared since the accident. He played in the 2022 Masters, where he made the cut to continue playing over the final two days. Woods was 1 under after the first day and shot 2 over in the second round, but struggled in the third and fourth rounds, posting consecutive 78s to place 47th at 13 over.
Woods played well over his first five holes Thursday at Southern Hills, the site of his 2007 PGA Championship win, as he was 2 under and was tied for fourth overall. He was a perfect 3-for-3 on hitting the fairway, and hit the green in regulation four times. But as the day wore on, he struggled, going 6 over par over the last 13 holes of the day. His day ended with two straight bogeys. Over those final 13 holes, he only hit green in regulation three times and he was just 7-for-11 in hitting the fairway.
"I drove it well, but my iron shots were not very good," Woods said, according to the New York Post. "I didn't get the ball very close. I got off to a great start and didn't keep it going. I really didn't give myself any looks for birdie. I was struggling trying to get the ball on the green, and I missed quite a few iron shots both ways. It was a frustrating day."
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Woods will have some extra time to rest between the end of his first round and start of the second. Woods teed off at 9:11 a.m. ET on Thursday, but it scheduled for a 2:36 p.m. ET tee time on Friday. He'll again be grouped with Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy finished his round on Thursday as the clubhouse leader at 5 under.
