When Tiger Woods walked off The Old Course last Friday, he said, “To me it felt like this might have been my last British Open here at St. Andrews.”

• Related: Tiger rips LIV golfers who have ‘turned their back’ on what made them

With the next scheduled to be in 2030, it’s unlikely that the 15-time major winner will be physically well enough to take part, let alone compete.

• Related: Ex-caddie says Tiger agreed to retire once he hit this major championship target

Hinting at his own battle with fitness, the 46-year-old spoke about the rumblings of surrendering from the sport he dominated for 12 years from 1998 to 2010.

However, Tiger was adamant – “I’m not retiring from the game,” he said before confirming, “It’s a struggle just playing the three events I played this year. That in itself was something I’m very proud of. I was able to play these three events, considering what has transpired.”

Those three events ended with finishes of 47th at the Masters, a withdrawal before the final round of the PGA Championship and a missed cut at the Open Championship, and he said at the time that there were no further events scheduled on his calendar.

“Maybe something next year,” he said. “It’s hard just to walk and play 18 holes. People have no idea what I have to go through and the hours of the work on the body, pre and post, each and every single day to do what I just did.”

It didn’t sound too good, but yesterday there was more positive news.

Speaking on The Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, Tiger’s caddie Joe LaCava revealed that there were plans for a return to the game in December at the Hero World Challenge, before again appearing with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship, all leading to Augusta 2023.

Tiger is a five-time champion of the Hero World Challenge (in all its various guises) and teamed up with son Charlie to be a valiant runner-up to the John Daly/John Daly II team at the PNC in 2021.

Of course, the man they call the GOAT used a buggy to get around the Ritz Carlton Golf Club last year, and seeing him walk around the three major courses this year has been tough viewing, so it is anybody’s guess how he will perform when asked to walk for four full rounds in a competitive event.

Whilst not sounding confident, LaCava is as fully supportive of his boss as he was when taking the bag from Steve Williams in 2011, and was there for his first major win in 11 years – at the 2019 Masters.

LaCava told Patrick:

“I’m hoping that he will play maybe in December at the Hero and the father-son, and then maybe the Genesis [Invitational]… I’m hoping three, maybe four tournaments before The Masters.”

“I won’t do much, I’ll do the same thing. I’ll say ‘Tiger, hey listen, if you’re starting to feel better in October or November, maybe I’ll come down for a couple of weeks [to Florida], we’ll hang out, don’t have to play every day, we don’t have to practice every day, I’ll be there and maybe give you a bit of motivation, we’ll do some playing practice here and there and get ready for the Hero and get ready for the following year of ’23 and get him ready in any respect that he needs.”

More from the 19th Hole

• Lexi Thompson’s behavior following Women’s PGA defeat sparks fierce debate
• ‘You don’t mess with that guy’ – Bryson reveals the last golfer he would want to fight
• ‘You like apples?’ – Greg Norman takes bullish shot at PGA Tour over LIV poll numbers