Friday, October 29, 1999
Woods suffers 'stinger' hitting a rock
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
HOUSTON (AP) — Tiger Woods hit through a baseball-sized
rock and suffered a stinger Thursday in the Tour Championship,
which a physical therapist said would cause stiffness through
the weekend.
But Woods said it would not force him to withdraw.
“No worries,” the world's No. 1 player said. “I'll
be all right.”
It may not have been the smartest play for Woods. Trailing
by one stroke with five holes left in the 27-hole round, Woods'
tee shot on No. 15 came to rest next to a tree, with a big rock
right in front of the ball.
Woods said moving the rock would have caused the ball to move,
a one-stroke penalty.
“If I took two club lengths (a one-stroke penalty), I
would still be in the rough, the tree in my line. A bogey would
be a good number,” he said. “If I could somehow get
the ball back out in the fairway ... which is what I tried to
do.”
Smashing through the rock with a wedge, the chain-reaction
caused the ball to advance sideways about 25 yards, still in the
rough. Woods hit his third shot to about 20 feet and two-putted
for par.
Ralph Simpson, a physical therapist in the fitness trailer,
said it was a brachial plexsus traction injury — also known
as a stinger, which is compounded by a neck strain.
He said Woods would be treated over the next two days with
motion exercises and ice treatments.
Woods was at 6-under 100, one stroke back of Davis Love III.
Despite the injury, Woods was 1-under over the last three holes,
wincing after every iron shot. He hit his last one to about four
feet for birdie on the 18th.
“Those are times when you just have to accept the shot
and know it is going to hurt,” he said. “Go ahead and
hit, and at least make it count. It's like being a wide receiver
going up the middle. You know the guy is going to lay you out,
but at least catch the ball.”
Woods has won six times on the PGA Tour this year, the most
since Tom Watson in 1980. He leads the money list with over $4.7
million.
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