The 14-time Major winner said even though coming to India as a player was far-fetched, he would love to come as a visitor, as
his association with Hero World Challenge is strong.
"As a player? No, not anytime soon. But I would like to, I would like for it to be as a player, trust me. But as a visitor and supporter of Hero, certainly in the near future, yes," Woods said when asked about his plans of visiting India.
But a lot of water has flown under the bridge since then as Woods seems to be travelling on a tough road to recovery. He even hinted that time might be running out on his illustrious career.
Also Read
"Therein lies the tough question and tough answer, because I have no answer for that, and neither does my surgeon or my physios. There is no timetable. So that's the hardest part, that's the hardest part for me is there's really nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build towards. It's just taking it literally just day by day and week by week and time by time," Woods said.
The 39-year-old veteran has had three surgeries post his back injury, but still hopes to return to the greens someday even though he seems content with his mountain of achievements.
When asked if the long flight could have been an issue,
Steinberg said, "I'm sure there's -- I'm sure there's so many different factors that could play into it. I just couldn't know what causes a back to go into a spasm.
"But he wanted to be here. He wants to be here. He just feels terrible that he can't, you know, finish it out today."
The withdrawal raises questions of his comeback in which he was due to play four times in five weeks -- he already missed the cut in Torrey Pines and now this withdrawal in Dubai. He is due to play Genesis Open in two weeks and then Honda Classic.