Tiger Woods knows how to make a comeback, but a serious car crash could be too much for even the GOAT to return from

Multiple leg injuries could spell the end of one of the greatest sporting careers ever. But fighting back is what Tiger Woods knows how to do.

It was only on Sunday, as Tiger Woods hosted but didn’t play in his own event at Riviera Country Club in California, the golf world took a gasp.

Woods, who has had to endure a fifth back surgery, the latest in a long line of treatments that the now 45-year-old golfing GOAT has been through in recent years on his body, couldn’t confirm when he’d be back playing.

Even the Masters in April seemed a long shot.

It was Augusta where he completed one of the greatest comebacks in sport, from the depths of serious injuries and the personal scandals that forced him to retreat from the all-conquering alpha male he’d been.

His 2019 Masters win, his fifth, was a story for the ages, the “new Tiger” embraced again and feared again by those who see that red shirt close up on any given Sunday.

Now it’s not just getting back for the Masters which is at the forefront of the minds of golf lovers everywhere.

It’s whether he can get back at all.

What started as “multiple leg injuries” among first reports of the car crash in Los Angeles became confirmation it was in fact a shattered ankle and two leg fractures, one of which is a compound fracture.

Those are horrible leg injuries for anyone.

But for an athlete, and an athlete like Woods, who rips so much power through his lower body, who twists and wrenches his knees and ankles to get the golf ball to do what only he can make it do, well, they aren’t good.

Asky anyone who has had similar injuries. They’ll tell you they were never the same again.

The deputy who first found Woods said he “didn’t seem concerned about his injuries” before he was extricated from his car.

”Which is not uncommon in traffic collisions. Many people seem to be in shock. Even if they are in pain, they may not feel it until much later,” the deputy said.

How prophetic, for not just Woods, but golf too.

Sick to my stomach right now. Praying for @TigerWoods and hoping for an amazing recovery. Thinking about his entire family and team, as all of us are sending our best wishes. We know TW is a fighter. Get well soon 🐅!!!

— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) February 23, 2021

The injuries aren’t life-threatening, but that does not remove the significance of them for a doting father who only recently played in a tournament with his son, Charlie, who was the mirror-image of his dad in so many ways.

Woods had hoped to do that more.

If anyone has the drive for another one of those “can you believe it” comebacks, it‘s Tiger Woods, who won the 2008 US Open playing with what was later revealed to be a broken leg.

But he’s 45 now, not “untouchable” as Adam Scott thought sporting Gods like Woods were.

“I‘m a little bit stiff,” Woods said on Sunday, in the commentary booth at the Genesis Invitational.

“I have one more MRI scheduled ... then I can start doing more activities. Still in the gym. Still doing the mundane stuff you have to do for rehab, the little things before I can start gravitating toward something a little more.“

Tiger Woods presented Max Homa with the The Genesis Invitational trophy on Sunday. Picture: Harry How/Getty Images/AFP

It was February 21, and he was only “gravitating” towards doing more things on the golf course, plotting another comeback.

He’d already lengthened his putter, to ease the strain on his back, such was the extra efforts he was going to, just to play again.

But he was smiling, because as Woods always does, he knew that for every word he said about how he was battling, he was doing four times as much work behind the scenes to be Tiger again.

The scenes of his car on its side in California, after he was extricated from his SUV, the tears his close friend and fellow tour pro Justin Thomas nearly shed after hearing the news, all paint a grim picture.

That Woods can recover, walk again, and be healthy, is a priority in such dire circumstances.

Whether it means his golfing career, his pursuit of more major championships, of the one more win he needs to break San Snead’s all-time PGA Tour record of 82 victories, is over, that can wait.

But you wouldn’t doubt him.

“He has mental strength stronger than most and has fought many battles and won many of them. His mental strength will win this battle,” Greg Norman said upon hearing of the accident.

Reigning US Open champion Bryson De Chambeau was more pointed.

“From my perspective he’s one of the most impressive human beings I’ve ever met and I think that he’ll come back just fine,” he said in Florida.

“He‘s always come back from it in a pretty amazing way. He’s an amazing human being that has done incredible things.”

He is Tiger Woods after all.

Originally published as Tiger Woods knows how to make a comeback, but a serious car crash could be too much for even the GOAT to return from