Tiger Woods nearly lost his life in a Helicopter event 24 years ago amid one of his best seasons

In 2000, Tiger Woods was having an excellent season and cementing himself as one of the all-time greats in the sport of golf. He won three of the four Majors that year and several other tournaments as well. He also almost lost his life.

Woods and his then-caddie Steve Williams traveled by helicopter to the Alpine Golf and Sports Club in Bangkok for the Johnnie Walker Classic that year. An accident that caused the helicopter to suddenly drop from the sky had both Woods and his caddie thinking death was nigh.

Via Express, Williams said:

“From the hotel where we were staying, we would take a helicopter to the golf course every week from the top of the hotel,” explained the 60-year-old. “And the pilot of the helicopter was an old guy from World War II, who spoke zero English – and he was absolutely amazing. How he navigated to get off the top of those roofs.”

He went on:

“But one day it just plummeted out of the air. We all thought that was all, we’re all gone. [Then] he said, ‘I’m sorry about that boys, took my eye off the John.’”

Neither Woods nor Williams was harmed during the incident, however. All emerged unscathed if only a little bit shaken up by their near-death experience. Woods would play well afterward, shooting 25-under for the entire tournament to earn another victory on the PGA Tour.

During this time with Williams, Woods secured 64 PGA Tour trophies and won 13 of his 15 career Majors. They eventually parted ways when Williams began working with Adam Scott.

Tiger Woods faces a long road to playing again

Tiger Woods likely won’t recapture his 2000 form as it’s been 24 years since he was that dominant, but he does want to become a more regular player again. Ahead of the Hero World Challenge, which he is not participating in, he said he isn’t ready to do that yet.

Via ESPN, the golfer said:

“I’m not tournament-sharp yet. No, I’m still not there. And these are 20 of the best players in the world, and I’m not sharp enough to compete against them at this level. When I’m ready to compete and play at this level, then I will.”

Tiger Woods recently had surgery to fix a microdecompression in his spine because his back continued to deteriorate throughout the year. The 82-time Tour winner said:

“As far as the recovery process of going out there and doing it again and again and again and doing it consistently at a high level, for some reason, the body just won’t recover like it used to. That’s part of age and part of an athlete’s journey.”

Woods has said that he will be ready for the TGL launch in January. His team is slated to play its first match on the 14th.