Tiger Woods recorded a video of himself taking practice swings Sunday. Woods, 37, appeared in bright sunglasses with his head back to the camera, swinging a driver and striking the ball firmly. Woods was not in the driving seat, according to footage uploaded to his website, and he smiled at the camera.
“Some mornings you wake up and you really have no choice but to play,” Woods said on the website. “And today was one of those mornings. It’s just incredible to play golf with the wind howling and to have the wind blowing this hard in and still to be able to play well.”
Woods is due to defend his Turkish Airlines Open title this week, the fifth start of his comeback from back fusion surgery. The former No. 1 and 14-time major champion recently returned to public life by appearing on “Dancing With the Stars,” raising his arms in triumph when paired with professional dancer Lindsay Arnold. The U.S. Golf Association has yet to announce any field for next year’s U.S. Open Championship, which will be held June 15-18 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. The Open qualifying field starts Nov. 20.
A 17-time winner on the PGA Tour, Woods previously reached No. 1 in the world rankings five times. His loss of No. 1 in 2007 was the second to fall during his career, following his loss to European Tour winner Padraig Harrington in 2005. Woods is the sole member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.