Tiger Woods' days as a full-time tour golfer are over.
The 15-time Major-winner says he doesn't have the body to climb Mount Everest one more time.
Woods has given his first in-depth interview since suffering a near fatal car accident in February of this year.
He was travelling at nearly double the legal speed limit when his car left the road just outside Los Angeles.
The 45-year old suffered multiple open fractures of his lower right leg, and told Golf Digest that he had genuine fears of losing the limb.
“There was a point in time when, I wouldn’t say it was 50/50, but it was damn near there if I was going to walk out of that hospital with one leg," Woods revealed.
"Once I [kept it], I wanted to test and see if I still had my hands. So even in the hospital, I would have [girlfriend] Erica [Herman] and [friend] Rob [McNamara] throw me something. Throw me anything.”
While Woods is now firmly on the road to recovery, he's conceded that returning full-time to the PGA Tour is no longer a realistic aim.
"I think something that is realistic is playing the tour one day - never full time, ever again - but pick and choose, just like Mr. [Ben] Hogan did," he said.
"Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that.
"You practice around that, and you gear yourself up for that. I think that’s how I’m going to have to play it from now on. It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s my reality. And I understand it, and I accept it.”
Woods completed a remarkable comeback from several back injuries and - ultimately - spinal fusion surgery to win The Masters at Augusta in 2019.
However, he says the work involved in returning from his car wreck would not be enough for another Lazarus-like comeback.
"I don’t have to compete and play against the best players in the world to have a great life," said Woods. "After my back fusion, I had to climb Mt. Everest one more time. I had to do it, and I did. This time around, I don’t think I’ll have the body to climb Mt. Everest, and that’s OK.
"I can still participate in the game of golf. I can still, if my leg gets OK, I can still click off a tournament here or there. But as far as climbing the mountain again and getting all the way to the top, I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation of me.”
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