ORLANDO, Fla. – Tiger Woods was less than a year removed from his own bout with an injured leg and the possibility of amputation, so when he learned of Casey Martin’s plight there was a mix of both empathy and sympathy.
Martin, who played college golf at Stanford with Woods, suffered from Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome. Two years ago, he broke his right leg which led to the decision to amputate in October.
“We were all so thankful that the procedure turned out as well as it did. He didn’t lose as much of the femur as the doctors were thinking going into the procedure,” Woods said Saturday at the PNC Championship. “Still in rough shape. It still hurts quite a bit, but what he’s gone through his entire life and the amount of pain that he’s lived in daily, people have no idea how much pain that guy has lived in and how tough he is mentally and physically.”
Full-field scores from the PNC Championship
Woods, who is playing his first competitive event in a year, was involved in a single-vehicle car crash in February outside of Los Angeles and needed multiple surgeries on his right leg.
“The leg was pretty messed up. I’m happy it’s still attached,” Woods said this week.
Martin, who sued the PGA Tour to use a golf cart in competition in 2001, has been the head golf coach at Oregon since 2006.