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Golf

25th May 2017

Tiger Woods did his best to namedrop all his famous friends during injury update

"My buddy Kid Rock "

Darragh Culhane

Tiger Woods hasn’t played a competitive round of golf since the start of February.

On that occasion, he was forced to withdraw from the Omega Desert Dubai Classic due to injury and consequently underwent surgery.

Woods took to his website to talk about where he is in his rehabilitation but, before that, he wanted to thank a list of famous friends for contributing to his fundraiser.

Tiger Jam was founded in 1998 and has had a number of high-profile performers such as Bon Jovi,  Stevie Wonder and Ed Sheeran.

The event, which is hosted at the MGM Grand, featured a number of poker stars, actress Kate Upton and singer Kid Rock.

And Woods did not want to leave anyone out as he thanked everyone involved for making the event a success.

In a statement posted on his website, it reads

“Special thanks to MGM Grand and to all my friends who pitched in to make Tiger Jam a big success. Kate Upton played poker and hosted our Saturday night dinner. I knew she would crush it, and she did. Chris Paul joined us on the golf course and at poker where he made the final table. I also want to thank Wesley Bryan for putting on an outstanding clinic at Shadow Creek and the World Poker Tour, Phil Hellmuth and all the poker pros that supported Tiger’s Poker Night. My buddy Kid Rock supported the event in a big way at poker and the parties and spent time meeting our guests. And I heard the after party at Topgolf Las Vegas was a blast. I also want to thank my friend Darius Rucker for a great concert Saturday night.”

In the update, Woods revealed that he had undergone fusion surgery on his back due to unbearable pain.

“It has been just over a month since I underwent fusion surgery on my back, and it is hard to express how much better I feel. It was instant nerve relief. I haven’t felt this good in years.

“I could no longer live with the pain I had. We tried every possible non-surgical route and nothing worked. I had good days and bad days, but the pain was usually there, and I couldn’t do much. Even lying down hurt. I had nerve pain with anything I did and was at the end of my rope.”

The 14-time major winner also said that he was looking at playing professional golf again.

“As for returning to competitive golf, the long-term prognosis is positive. My surgeon and physiotherapist say the operation was successful. It’s just a matter of not screwing up and letting it fuse. I’m walking and doing my exercises, and taking my kids to and from school. All I can do is take it day by day. There’s no hurry.

“But, I want to say unequivocally, I want to play professional golf again.

“Presently, I’m not looking ahead. I can’t twist for another two and a half to three months. Right now, my sole focus is rehab and doing what the doctors tell me. I am concentrating on short-term goals.”

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