“Its time for him to call it quits”: Tiger Woods advised to retire by Stephen Smith

Tiger Woods withdrew from the 2023 Masters tournament midway through, citing injury issues. A week after his unexpected withdrawal, American media personality Stephen Smith advised the three-career grand slam winner to quit the sport.

On ESPN show Take First, Smith said Woods should retire peacefully given the toll that the 47-year-old's body has toaken over the years. He said:

"Think its time for him to call it quits. I know Phil Mickelson is 52, but the bottom line is Phil Mickelson's body hasn't been through what Tiger Woods' body has been through."

Stephen Smith drew the difference between 52-year-old Phil Mickelson and 47-year-old Woods. He said that Woods' body has endured much worse than Phil's. He said:

"I'm not saying Phil Mickelson hasn't gone through some adversity, but never the physical adversity and challenges in his life. I ain't never seen him like I'm seeing Tiger. It's one of them sad, sad situations right now, and I'm talking about his health. He needs to step away."

Tiger Woods' last major win came in 2019 when he won the Masters for the fifth time in his career. Only Jack Nicklaus is ahead of him in terms of most Masters wins.

In December 2022, Woods said that his ultimate goal was to play a few more major tournaments, indicating that he might retire soon. Woods said:

"The goal is to play just the major championships and maybe one or two more. That's it. I mean, that's physically, that's all I can do."

Tiger Woods announced his withdrawal from the 87th edition of Masters through Twitter. He thanked all his fans and the organizers of the Masters for their love and support, writing:

"I am disappointed to have to WD this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis. Thank you to the fans and to @TheMasters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!"

---

"It was obviously difficult to watch"- Jason Day revealed details about Tiger Woods' injury

PGA Tour professional golfer Jason Day spoke with the media after completing his third round at the Masters to reveal what might be wrong with Woods. Day shared that the screw Woods has under his skin has been hurting him.

"I was talking to [Woods] at the end of last year. And then he was saying the reason why he pulled out of the PGA was a screw went through the skin on Saturday or whatever it was. I don't know how bad it is this time."

Jason Day felt it was difficult to watch Woods play through the pain, saying:

"It was obviously difficult to watch because he had to come back out and then play through all that yesterday morning, and then he had to take a little bit of a break and come back out and play again."

Tiger Woods met with a brutal car accident in 2021 after which he had a rod implanted in his leg.