Gary Player: It's highly unlikely Tiger Woods ever makes it back to the top

Nine-time major champion Gary Player has warned that Tiger Woods’s game is clearly in “big trouble”, and believes the American’s latest injury setback means it is unlikely we will ever see him at the top of the sport again.

Eurosport

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Woods, who turns 40 in December, recently announced his latest break from the game – undergoing a second surgery on his back in September that is expected to keep him out of the game until the start of 2016.

By that time he is expected to have dropped outside the top 400 in the world rankings, after managing just one top-10 finish in 11 appearances on the PGA Tour in 2015.

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And Player believes things no longer look at all rosy for the 14-time major champion.

“I see his game in big trouble,” Player told . “He’s had three knee operations, two back operations and a lot of other problems in life.

“And then we’ve seen him struggle in tournaments, where he was getting the yips, duffing chips and hitting chips over the green.

“When that happens you’ve got a big problem.”

Asked whether he felt Woods could yet return to something approaching his best, the South African was pessimistic.

“Can he overcome it? I don’t think so,” he said. “But I hope he does, because golf needs Tiger Woods. He brings more people out, higher ratings on TV, sponsors, crowds – it’s fantastic.

“We need him. But I don’t think he’ll ever come back to be the Tiger Woods that he was, although I hope I’m wrong.”

Player, who famously credited his relentless practice regime for his successes on the course, added that he had some ideas on how Woods could rediscover his form and fitness – but his attempts to work with Woods have been declined.

“I have ideas and I offered to help,” Player revealed. “It was not accepted.

“I have many ideas that I’d love to sit down and discuss with him. But it would be indecent and wrong to do that in public.”

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