Sergio Garcia believes it won’t be long before Tiger Woods returns to golf. Woods is taking an indefinite break since his car accident in Florida on November 27 and subsequent revelations of extramarital affairs. The world No.1 has not been seen in public since the crash, and there has been no word on a date for his return.
”The best thing for Tiger at the moment is to get on the course and do what he knows best,” said Garcia, a rival on the US PGA Tour for the past 10 years. ”Only he knows when he is going to come back. I have got the feeling that it’s going to be earlier than what everybody thinks.”
The Spaniard spoke before the Abu Dhabi Championship, where he will return to action on Thursday after a seven-week lay-off for treatment of a tendon problem in his right wrist.
Former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy is hoping Tiger Woods will speak publicly before taking part in a professional golf event.Ogilvy, one of the eight players ranked in the top 20 that are competing at this week’s Abu Dhabi Championship, said Wednesday that the attention surrounding Woods at a tournament would be distracting to the other players.
“I think he should come out away from the golf course,” the Australian said. “I think that would be the best thing for him and for every other player and for the tournament. I don’t believe a lot of tournaments want all the tabloid media floating around.”
Woods has not spoken publicly since he crashed his car in late November. Since then, he has admitted to infidelities and said he was taking an indefinite leave from golf.
“The first press conference he does is going to be the crazy one, isn’t it?” said Ogilvy, who won the SBS Championship in Hawaii this month. “A lot people who have been afraid to ask questions for the past 10 or 12 years won’t be quite as hesitant to ask questions as they used to be. And he’s going to have to answer questions.”
When Woods does eventually return to the PGA Tour, Ogilvy said the American will get back to his best.”Tiger has always impressed when he had had lots going on around him with expectation, pressure and crazy stuff,” said Ogilvy, who won the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
At this week’s tournament, two-time champion Paul Casey said he would struggle to win a third title in Abu Dhabi because he is still feeling the affects of a rib muscle injury from the British Open Championship at Turnberry last July.
“I am still unable to swing a club like I was at this time when I won here last year,” Casey said. “I can’t get full turned all the way in the backswing and I haven’t quite got the extension through the ball.”
Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy are also in the field.But without Woods on the course, many believe winning a tournament doesn’t mean as much. Ogilvy doesn’t agree.”It’s not a hollow victory when you win when he is not there,” Ogilvy said. “But it’s a lot better when you win when he is there.”
”I think he [Woods] is very strong mentally, and it’s not like the break he had for injury a couple of years back when he had the knee problem,” Garcia said. ”If you can’t walk, you can’t swing. It’s different.”
While Woods’s absence might make it easier for Garcia to end his elusive 11-year search for a victory in one of golf’s four majors, he would prefer to achieve that feat playing against the world’s best player.
”There’s nothing better than playing against the best,” Garcia said. ”But there is always an upside and a downside. The downside when he is playing is that you know your chances of winning are a little lower.
”The upside is that when you know you are playing against him and you manage to beat him, it’s always that much sweeter to have beaten the best. So for the game, it is not good that Tiger is out. We hope he gets back as soon as possible.”
