Tiger Woods has 'zero mobility' with ankle according to Notah Begay III

Imagine for a minute being Tiger Woods in the year 2024. Your brain is still telling you you can beat anyone on the PGA Tour on any day, but your body is reporting physically unable to compete. That is the dilemma that Tiger Woods currently faces. So will Tiger Woods play or not play in next week's Masters and if he does play, will he be able to physically make it to the weekend?

Woods is included in the player list for The Masters later this month. However, his close friend Notah Begay III has raised some concerns about the physical toll of playing 72 holes over four days for the 15-time major champion.

Following a serious car crash in 2021 that resulted in severe leg injuries, Woods has faced numerous health challenges as he strives to stay competitive. Now we all know that Woods has been dealing with health issues for quite some time now and while that's hardly breaking news, Begay III raised a few new questions when discussing the health of the 15-time major champion during a conference call on Wednesday, per USA Today.

"He's trying to formulate a strategy and approach that he can work within given the constraints that he's presented with. And he's got some constraints," said Begay, a longtime friend and commentator for NBC Sports.

"He's got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have."

Woods did play a practice round with Justin Thomas at Augusta National last week and he has officially entered to go after his sixth Masters title. Since his last Masters victory in 2019, Woods finished tied for 38th in 2020, did not compete in 2021, finished 47th in 2022, and withdrew from last year's tournament due to plantar fasciitis after making the 36-hole cut.

"For the past couple months, he's been trying to find a way to recover," Begay said. "He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be, 'Can he walk the 72 (holes)?' That's still up in the air. But can he recover, from one round to the next? That's the biggest question that I really don't know and he's not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he's prepared for this year's Masters is going to work for him."

Betting against Tiger Woods has historically been a bad idea, but at this point, the physical limitations may be too much for him to overcome. Still wouldn't it be great to see Woods on the back nine on Sunday? CBS certainly will be pulling for Woods as PGA tour ratings have significantly decreased over the past year, largely due to the feud between the PGA and LIV Golf.