Tiger: Playing with son 'far more important' than recovery process

Not even plantar fasciitis will stop Tiger Woods from playing with his son.

Woods said Friday that he doesn't care if playing with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship Pro-Am this weekend aggravates his injury.

"I think being there with and alongside my son is far more important, and (getting) to have a chance to have this experience with him is far better, than my foot being a little creaky," Woods said, according to ESPN's Mark Schlabach.

Woods is making his third straight appearance alongside his son at the tournament. The pair finished runner-up to Team Daly at last year's installment, which was the first time Woods played in a competitive event following his February 2021 car accident.

The 46-year-old - who announced two weeks ago that he had plantar fasciitis - discussed the struggles he's had rehabbing from his injuries.

"I'm doing everything," Woods said. "It's frustrating because each and every day I have to do it, and then on top of that it's trying to sleep in the damn boot, it's no fun. My left leg is bleeding sometimes because the boot hits it. It's just annoying.

"It's one of those things that, hey, I'm grateful to have this limb, and it's mine. ... Yes, there are some issues with it, but I still have it."

Woods added that his recovery process has been even more difficult than people think.

"There's some of the players who are very close to me (who) know what I've kind of gone through, and they're the ones that keep encouraging me to back off a little bit," he said. "But that's not really in my nature."

Woods also played in the seventh iteration of The Match last Saturday alongside World No. 1 Rory McIlroy. The pair lost to Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, both of whom are in the PNC field. Woods has used a cart in both last week's event and this week's tournament.

The 82-time TOUR winner played in three majors in 2022. He made the cut at both the Masters and the PGA Championship, though he withdrew from the latter following 54 holes. Woods said Friday he isn't sure what his 2023 schedule will look like.

"I'm supposed to be resting this thing and stretching and letting it heal, but I'm not doing that at the moment," Woods said.

Woods and Charlie will tee off at 12:17 p.m. ET on Saturday for the first round of the PNC alongside good friend Thomas and his father, Mike.