{"id":250,"date":"2025-04-30T06:10:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T06:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topfeednews.it.com\/?p=250"},"modified":"2025-04-30T06:10:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T06:10:48","slug":"masters-champion-struggling-to-walk-tiger-woods-injury-mess-and-rory-mcilroy-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topfeednews.it.com\/?p=250","title":{"rendered":"Masters champion \u2018struggling to walk\u2019, Tiger Woods injury \u2018mess\u2019 and Rory McIlroy concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The first major of the 2025 season, the Masters, will be held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia between April 10 and April 13 \u2013 but a number of stars are facing last-minute injury worries<\/p>\n

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Rory McIlroy may have an injured elbow headed into the 2025 Masters(Image:\u00a0Ross Kinnaird, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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Golf enthusiasts might be raring to go for next week\u2019s\u00a0Masters, but some pros might be wishing they had a tad more prep time.<\/p>\n

The prestigious first major of the year will tee up at\u00a0Augusta National Golf Club\u00a0in Georgia from April 10 to April 13, in which, around 100 players will battle it out for a coveted green jacket. But as the Masters draws near, a handful of the globe\u2019s best\u00a0golfers\u00a0are dealing with injuries that could jeopardise their shot at seizing the year\u2019s first big title \u2013 with some stars having no choice but to sit out completely.<\/p>\n

Tiger Woods<\/h3>\n

The twist of fate, of course, just ramps up the intrigue, leaving the door open wide for energetic newcomers and less-celebrated players to seize the limelight and possibly make headlines as the tournament unfolds. However, there may be less-than-stellar performances on the horizon too, thanks to a few stalwarts pushing through pain barriers.<\/p>\n

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Tiger Woods\u00a0gave fans a flicker of hope about his possible return to the greens on Tuesday, writing on social media: \u201cI can\u2019t believe I am saying this, but a few weeks after rupturing my left Achilles, the sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber plus the explosive lifts my doctors and trainers have me ready to play the Masters next week!\u201d reports\u00a0the Mirror US.<\/p>\n

However, the revelation on April 1 was just his idea of an April Fools\u2019 prank, later returning to X to write: \u201cP.S. April Fools my Achilles is still a mess.\u201d The 15-time major winner hasn\u2019t hit the fairways on the PGA Tour since last July\u2019s missed cut at\u00a0The Open, which was followed by micro-decompression surgery to free up nerve pressure on his spine in September.<\/p>\n

Tiger Woods will not play in the Masters this year(Image:\u00a0Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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Looking set for a return at The Genesis Invitational in February, Woods stepped back from golf due to\u00a0the loss of his mother. Meanwhile, he last month shared news of having surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon owing to intense training and practice before the Masters \u2013 another setback in a string of injuries that have plagued his career. It unfortunately means the icon won\u2019t be gracing the greens at the 2025 Masters.<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/h3>\n

Rory McIlroy, with four major titles under his belt, has been tearing it up in 2025 \u2013 seizing\u00a0victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am\u00a0in February and nailing a win against JJ Spaun at last month\u2019s\u00a0Players Championship\u00a0in a nail-biting play-off. Despite his stellar performance, the current World No. 2 faces the Masters with an elbow issue that could hamper his game.<\/p>\n

McIlroy opened up to The Golf Channel about his physical condition as he prepares for Augusta, saying: \u201cMy right elbow has been bothering me a little bit, so I\u2019ll maybe just get some treatment on that and make sure that is OK going into Augusta. I\u2019ve got my coach, Michael Bannon, coming in [on Monday]; we\u2019ll do some work and make sure everything is in good shape for a week\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rory McIlroy has had issues with his elbow(Image:\u00a0Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Heading to Augusta, McIlroy is eager to be in prime shape, particularly with his sights set on securing his first major title in over a decade since his win at the 2014\u00a0PGA Championship\u00a0at Valhalla. Despite having two PGA Championships, a\u00a0US Open, and an Open Championship under his belt, the Masters\u2019 green jacket remains the one major trophy that McIlroy has yet to claim. His closest shot at the title came in 2022 when he finished just three strokes behind current World No. 1,\u00a0Scottie Scheffler.<\/p>\n

Bernhard Langer<\/h3>\n

PGA Tour Champions sensation Bernhard Langer has no grand expectations of clinching next week\u2019s Masters at Augusta, which would add to his impressive roster of two titles there, but he candidly shared that his preparation\u00a0might be impacted by his own Achilles injury. The 67-year-old legend had planned to bid adieu to the iconic tournament last year, however, a February Achilles injury thwarted him from participating.<\/p>\n

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Bernhard is now gearing up for what might be his final participation of the major at the 2025 Masters, despite the fact that walking proves to be a struggle at the moment. He explained: \u201cTo get back to where I was and I always thought I would come back, it was just a matter of when and how.Bernhard Langer is heading back to Augusta(Image:\u00a0Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was a long and tough process. It still is. I\u2019m not 100 per cent and maybe I never will be, but walking is still difficult. So I\u2019ve been riding a cart for the most part \u2014 well, walking 18 holes. I can walk, I\u2019m okay walking nine holes, but then I get a little fatigued and stiff and all that kind of stuff. It\u2019s still a process trying to get better in that department.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m hoping to play great, and I have to play great to make the cut because the course is so long for me that nothing but great will do it. I\u2019m coming in with two and three-irons where the other guys are hitting nine-irons on every hole, and that\u2019s just hard to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xander Schauffele<\/h3>\n
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As for\u00a0Xander Schauffele, the\u00a0PGA Tour\u00a0star had to take an eight-week break from the 2025 season owing to a painful rib injury which first emerged last December. Despite participating in the Sentry as the year kicked off, Schauffele felt the injury for the first time just before the festive period, which was later identified as an intercostal strain accompanied by a minor tear in the cartilage.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old opened up about his injury, explaining: \u201cI wasn\u2019t sitting there like, \u2018Oh, my gosh, I\u2019m in so much pain\u2019. You know what I mean? It was sort of abrupt, like if I would wake up and roll over to grab my phone, or to grab something, or sneeze if I\u2019m like sitting on the couch in a\u00a0weird\u00a0position.<\/p>\n

Xander Schauffele has missed a number of events this year(Image:\u00a0Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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\u201cStuff like that is kind of where I would remind myself like, \u2018Oh, okay, I\u2019m not great right now.\u2019\u201d After getting the all-clear from CT, MRI, and ultrasound scans, he made his comeback at the\u00a0Arnold Palmer Invitational\u00a0in March, finishing T40. Despite appearing to have recovered fully, the extended time off early in the season might mean he\u2019s a bit off his game as the Masters approaches.<\/p>\n

Scottie Scheffler<\/h3>\n

Schauffele isn\u2019t alone in missing game time; Scheffler also had a mishap, injuring his right hand on\u00a0Christmas\u00a0Day while preparing ravioli. The accident required surgery to remove glass fragments after a wine glass he used to roll the dough broke.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the unfortunate event, Scheffler said: \u201cIt\u2019s one of those deals where immediately after it happened I was mad at myself because I was like gosh, that\u2019s so stupid, but you just don\u2019t think about it when you\u2019re in the moment. It really wasn\u2019t like terrible, but I knew I kind of messed something up just because the way my hand wasn\u2019t really moving much and if I did, it hurt pretty bad.<\/p>\n

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Scottie Scheffler injured his hand in December(Image:\u00a0Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I kind of knew something was up.\u201d Scheffler subsequently sat out the Sentry and the American Express before making his PGA Tour comeback at Pebble Beach, where he finished T9. The 28-year-old is yet to secure a win in the six tournaments he\u2019s competed in this season, but he\u2019s setting his sights on a triumphant return to the Masters, where he\u2019s previously won twice.<\/p>\n

Jordan Spieth<\/h3>\n

For nearly two years,\u00a0Jordan Spieth\u00a0has been grappling with persistent wrist problems. After undergoing surgery last summer, the 31-year-old tweaked his wrist once more at Pebble Beach in late January.<\/p>\n

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Spieth recounted how he experienced pain after hitting a bunker shot on the tenth hole during his opening round, which led to his wrist to lock up. He explained: \u201cI had to flick one and it jammed it pretty good, and it locked up on me for a little while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan Spieth has had trouble with his wrist(Image:\u00a0Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Speaking at the\u00a0Phoenix Open\u00a0at TPC Scottsdale the following week, he added: \u201cMy wrist kind of hurt in the first round last week and I went away from all the work that I had been doing just to kind of manipulate what I could, and then I said, you know what, I just have to get through it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSo I was back to the status quo Sunday on all the stuff that I had been doing, and it paid off there.\u201d While Spieth\u2019s wrist has held up so far this season, barring the discomfort he experienced at Pebble Beach, it might take the American golfer some time to mentally adjust to playing Tour Golf again post-surgery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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