What some PGA Tour players have said will happen if Tiger Woods is allowed to use a cart during tournaments

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The news that Tiger Woods has undergone yet more surgery broke on Sunday and golf fans the world over were left with a tinge of real concern.

Will we ever see Woods compete on the PGA Tour again, let alone at the very highest level of the game in major championships?

Woods’ future in the game has been thrown into doubt, after undergoing back surgery for the seventh time.

He has received well wishes from all corners of the globe, including from Ernie Els who took to social media to console Woods.

The 15-time major champion has come back from serious injuries in the past, most famously when he won The Masters in 2019 after undergoing lower back fusion surgery in 2017.

However, he now faces a surely insurmountable task if he is to come back from his latest back surgery to win again.

What PGA Tour players have said will happen if Tiger Woods is allowed to use a cart

Woods’ latest setback was a really sobering one for him and his fans.

The 49-year-old now needs to focus purely on getting healthy first and foremost, rather than worrying about if he will be able to actually play golf again.

Anyone who has watched him play major championships over the past couple of years will be fully aware of how difficult walking 72 holes in four days is for him, or even 36 holes in two days.

If he does return to the PGA Tour, he may well have the option to use a golf cart during tournaments.

Trey Wingo has revealed what some PGA Tour players have told him about the prospect of Tiger using a cart during tournaments.

He said: “I’ve had Tour players tell me, if Tiger would just take a medical exemption, if he’d just take a medical exemption and take a cart he’d probably win three times a year on the PGA Tour and maybe find a way to bag another major, which would be his 16th.

“But he won’t do it, and I just think this last surgery could be the exclamation point or the period on Tiger Woods’ competitive career.“

That is a hugely bold prediction. Woods winning three times at his age would be an unbelievable achievement, even with the use of a cart!

PGA Tour players have used carts before but will Tiger Woods do the same?

PGA Tour players may be allowed to use a golf cart during tournaments under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Each request is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and a precedent was set back in 2001 when Casey Martin was granted permission to use a cart by the Tour.

The Supreme Court actually ruled in Martin’s favor, with the PGA Tour then being forced to make ‘reasonable accommodations’ for disabled players.

A more recent example was back in 2019 when John Daly was allowed to use a cart at the PGA Championship due to his arthritis.

Any player with a legitimate ADA concern can apply for such an exemption and given Woods’ recent problems with his back and his legs, there is every chance he would be approved for use of a cart during PGA Tour tournaments.

According to Trey Wingo, though, that will never happen, and that’s just a sign of Woods’ incredible competitiveness. If he took a cart and won a golf tournament, you just know it wouldn’t sit right with him, even though he more than meets the criteria to do so.

The use of carts on the Champions Tour is much more common, so it will be interesting to see further down the line if Woods utilises that option on the senior circuit.