Justin Thomas impressed by 'very strong' Tiger Woods following PNC Championship appearance

ByAlex Livie

Updated 20/12/2022 at 10:03 GMT

It is likely to be a long road back to fitness for Tiger Woods, and he may never again scale the heights that took him to 15 major championships - but his performance at the PNC Championship impressed Justin Thomas, who feels Woods can still compete at the top level. Woods is set to rest and recover over the course of the next few months before turning his attention to 2023.

Justin Thomas feels there were positives for Tiger Woods to take from his performance at the PNC Championship.

Playing alongside his son Charlie, Woods made a bright start at the Ritz-Carlton Resort in Florida, with the pair two off the lead after the opening 18 holes.

They faded on Sunday to finish in a tie for eighth behind winners Vijay Singh and his son Qass.

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But there were plenty of positives in the performance of Woods, who impressed playing partner Thomas over the course of the two rounds.

"I wasn't joking when I said it: When he's feeling well, he's longer than I am with a driver," Thomas said of the moment Woods sent a drive way beyond his ball on the fifth. "But I'm sure he would trade 10 yards to be able to walk every day and feeling well.

"But yeah, it's very impressive. You can tell, he's very, very strong, very fit right now. It's just dealing with the other issues."

As well as battling the leg injury he suffered in a car crash in 2021, which restricted him to only three competitive appearances last season, Woods has been hit with a bout of plantar fasciitis.

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Woods had the use of a cart during the PNC Championship, but that will not be an option when he returns to action in 2023.

The 15-time major winner’s focus is on resting for the next couple of months before setting his sights on a return to competitive action.

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“The plantar fasciitis is no fun,” Woods said. “Now I get to truly recover and heal and progress forward on this because there’s so many good things that I've been able to do physically, be able to hit the golf ball and practice and do everything in a standstill ... but I haven't been able to get from Point A to Point B (walking). We're obviously going to work on this.”

Reflecting on a year that saw him play in three majors with no success, where his performances got progressively worse - culminating in a missed cut at the Open Championship, Woods felt there were positives to take from 2022.

“Last year I played with a broken leg," Woods said. "This year nothing was broken, but it was good that all the pieces are there again all lined up.

“It was a tough year but also one of the more rewarding years I’ve had in a while.”

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