Tiger Woods in ‘last-chance saloon’ with golf ‘running out of patience’ after car crash

Paul McGinley admits it is impossible to fully write off Tiger Woods, but thinks the golf great’s future lies in an ambassadorial role.

The 15-time Major champion was charged with driving under the influence on Friday after rolling over his Land Rover when trying to overtake a pick-up truck towing a trailer.

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He was arrested and spent eight hours in prison before being released on bail, later entering a written plea of not guilty via his lawyers and demanding a jury trial.

Woods will now having been expected to attend The Masters even if he wasn’t able to compete.

“I think a lot of people are running out of patience now,” former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said on a media call. “He realises the seriousness of the situation, as he said, and I think it’s a line in the sand.

“It’s quite clear he was just trying to accelerate things, trying to put in the reps, trying to put in the practice in order to get to Augusta National. Obviously, he’s flipped on the wrong side of it.

“I think he has been more criticised in the last week than he has ever before in any kind of scandal that he’s been involved in. Everybody realises this is the end of the road and the last-chance saloon. He’s very fortunate that he’s not in bigger trouble.”

McGinley is extremely doubtful that Woods will be able to play a leading role again.

“I don’t think it’s fair to write him off fully, but it’s highly improbable that he win another tournament again, never mind a Major,” he said. “And look how little golf he has played in the last six years, seven years. And when he has played, he hasn’t been on the pace.

“It’s quite clear that he’s not able to practice the way he used to. He’s past 50 years of age now. I think his future in terms of winning Majors will probably be more focused on playing and maybe winning senior events more so than on the main tour.

“I would say it’s highly unlikely that he will win another tournament again, never mind a major. But you’re never going to say never with Tiger Woods, but it’s highly unlikely.”

Woods has now been involved in three crashes and undergone multiple back surgeries.

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But it is the life-altering injuries he suffered to his right leg in 2021 that appear to be the main issue with a return.

“By all accounts, from what I hear and what I understand, the biggest injury that he’s really facing in terms of the practicalities of playing are more related around walking and his foot than they are his back issues,” McGinley added.

“I think the back is certainly looking at the ball speeds that he had at the TGL, they were right on pace with the top players in the game. So it’s quite clear he’s got that.

“The big question is, can he practice to the same intensity? That’s obviously clearly he can’t do that. He’s having to rely so heavily on medication in order to do that.

“And then of course, the marathon in terms of walking that major championships are, indeed any PGA Tour event is for four rounds. That’s a big, big ask.”

TGL’s indoor environment and the senior tour — where cart use is allowed between holes — could extend Woods’ career.

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Whether that is enough for one of the two greatest players ever alongside Jack Nicklaus is another matter.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a future at the highest level.

Amid challenges from upstarts like LIV Golf, the sport needs leaders now more than ever.

McGinley explained: “A little bit like Franz Beckenbauer would have done at Bayern Munich, you know, you go into that chairmanship of the club after being a great player and great captain, you go in then and you’re the main steward in terms of the running of the club. As they say in football, he’s moved upstairs.

“And I think that’s what he’s done. He’s obviously got a key influential role in this new futures committee.

“And the reason why he has a key role is not because his input is going to be any better than anybody else’s. I think it’s because he’s got a lot of influence over the current players to get them on side.

“Golf is a very, very fractured sport, as the players with independent trader status makes them, as we’ve all seen the last few years, have incredible leverage. So they’ve got to be coerced to do things.

“And there’s nobody better positioned to coerce players into a future for the tour than Tiger Woods because they are all so much in awe of him, because of what he achieved as a golfer.”

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