Tiger Woods is ‘mentally tough, will listen to his doctors and fight to play again’ after horror smash, says close pal
TIGER Woods’ family do not know if he will ever play golf again, but have vowed that he will ‘fight for his career’.
The ‘mentally tough’ star ‘will listen to his doctors’ as he begins on the road to recovery after cheating death in a car smash, a friend has exclusively told The Sun.
The golf ace, 45, is recovering from serious leg injuries at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center after being pulled from wreckage of his SUV on Tuesday morning after it flipped at speed.
Tiger was said to be ‘awake, responsive and recovering‘ with his loved ones by his bedside after shattering his right leg, but he has a long road ahead and is looking at months of recovery.
Pete McDaniel, a close friend who has spoken to his mother Tida since the crash during a tearful phone call, said the family are ‘relieved more than anything else,’ but the future is still uncertain.
He exclusively told The Sun: “She [Tida] gave me a little bit of information as to how he’s doing and that eased my fears.
“I think she was at home still in Florida.
“It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Once I found that out then I was okay. I didn’t ask any other questions and she didn’t offer anything else.
“She’s a pretty cool lady. It takes a whole lot to upset her and ultimately she’s a buddhist and she believes her faith really carries her.
“They go to the temple every year and she basically has his fortune told, and she believes in it, she’s a woman of faith.
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“His fans, his family for sure, we’re all just very relieved that he didn’t turn out to have life-threatening injuries. That was the biggest concern, no one is ready to lose him.
“We all have our time. but obviously it was not his time, so I’m grateful for that.”
Asked if he thinks he will ever play again, Pete said: “If the injuries aren’t debilitating, and he can overcome the stress and all of the work he would have to do to get back in some kind of form, he will.
“He will listen to his body and he will listen to his doctors. He’s learned to do that, he’s matured.
“There was a time when he didn’t, you know, he would push it and push it, but he’s gotten older and wiser, fortunately. It’s a whole different Tiger Woods, and he’s proven his greatness.
“He is so mentally tough that he will find a silver lining in this. It may not seem like it right now, but I guarantee you he will somehow find a positive to this. And it will push him to come all the way back.
“And if there are any naysayers out there, he uses them as motivation. I’ve already heard them saying, ‘He’s done, he can’t come back from this’. Keep saying that, that benefits Tiger.
Pete said critics can ‘never ever count him out’ and he has a ‘lot more fire power’ than people believe after a number of setbacks during his long career.
He added: “He’s already proved that he can still compete.
“And if he can get back to a hundred percent health, I don’t see why he wouldn’t go out and give it another shot, that’s his happy space.
“I believe he has two happy spaces, number one would be with his children, and number two is on the golf course, competing with some of these young guys, talking trash and beating them.
“If I could talk to him I’d probably give him a hard time. I’d probably say something smart to him like ‘Next time you decide to leave the house, give me a call and I’ll fly in. I’ll drive for you because obviously you can’t drive.
“He’d say something just as smart-alecky back to me, that’s our relationship, we dig at each other and poke fun.”
Tiger reportedly hit a raised central reservation at ‘speed’ and smashed through a street sign, before hitting a tree and then flipping his £36,000 Genesis GV80 SUV a number of times.
He had emergency surgery after being freed by firefighters from the mangled vehicle at an accident blackspot in Rancho Palos Verdes shortly after 7:15am on Tuesday.
Pete says he feels his seatbelt ‘saved his life’ and was left shaken by the horrific scenes from the crash in LA which have been featured in rolling news coverage since the accident.
Tiger Woods, you don’t tell him what he has to do
Pete McDaniel
He admitted: “It was one of those fluke things, I don’t know exactly what happened, I don’t know if we’ll ever know.
“I’ve never seen him without a seatbelt to be honest with you. He’s been pretty well-schooled in safety, despite some of his past missteps.
“I’m really thankful and grateful that he did take that precaution and had a seatbelt on because I believe that certainly saved his life, that and the air bags and the technology in that new car.”
Asked if he thinks Tiger should use a personal driver, he laughed, responding: “No, that’s like telling someone outgoing his entire life that he needs a guardian. Tiger Woods, you don’t tell him what he has to do.”
North Carolina native Pete, 68, who first met Tiger in 1994 while working for Golf Life Magazine, co-wrote his late father Earl’s autobiography, Training a Tiger, was a main figure in the HBO documentary about the star.
He says he doesn’t like ‘armchair physicians’ who say Tiger might take years to recover as they have ‘no facts at all,’ calling their predictions ‘disturbing’ and says his family will remain positive.
Father-of-two Tiger, who has daughter Charlie, 13, and son Sam, 12, with ex Elin Nordegren, is being supported by those closest to him, including longtime girlfriend, Erica Herman.
Pete added: “Tiger loves his children and they adore their father. And I can imagine that would be pretty darn tough to see that on TV. I would think that would be very, very difficult. I can’t imagine that.
“I hope they’re not watching it [the news] because it’s not going to do any good, maybe it’s being censored, I hope so.
“What I hope for him is that he recovers fully of course, and that he’s able to resume some kind of a normal life.
“A normal life for Tiger would be just to be able to do activities with his children and be pain-free.
“If he decides he wants to continue his career, I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t, if he’s healthy again, he’ll attack it full force again, I have no doubt about it.”
Asked if he is concerned Tiger could end up hooked on pain killers after his past struggles with drugs, he added: “I don’t know anything about any of it. That’s what people want to talk about.
“I’ve never seen Tiger take anything. I’ve never seen him do anything illegal.
“The potential for who he is today has always been there. He’s always been a really, really good person.
“It’s just that that competitor, that steely-eyed, cold assassin, it kind of overshadowed the guy who likes to joke and play around and have a good time.
“He has let his guard down with these young guys now, and he has fun with them, but when they tee it up, he wants to beat them. You can count on that. When he puts that Superman cape on, you better watch out.”
Finally, Pete added: “I personally would like to thank all the fans for the love and the outreach and the prayers.
“I would ask them to continue to support him and send up positive thoughts and plenty of light, the rest is up to a higher power.”