Stephen A. Smith calls Tiger Woods a recreational golfer after injury: 'He can't do it anymore'

When news surfaced of Tiger Woods suffering a torn Achilles, immediately the golf world contemplated what it meant for his future. And for ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, the answer couldn’t be more clear.

Woods is past his prime. Simply finishing rounds is tough at this point.

“I mean no disrespect,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take. “To me, Tiger Woods is a recreational golfer at this point. We know how he’s the all-time great. We get that. But his health is so bad.”

The golfing great has been through a number of injuries in recent years, from the aftermath of a bad car crash, to back issues, to the Achilles tear. Always something.

It’s to the point that Woods simply competing at this point is sometimes remarkable. Competitively? That stroke of luck has been tough to come by.

“I literally look at Tiger Woods, and I don’t even think about this game,” Smith said. “You know what I think about? One day (of golf), because that’s all you got. You go through — you walk 18 holes, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. He ain’t making it. He’s not making it. Literally, you don’t even think about his swing, y’all. You don’t think about his short game, you don’t think about his mid-game, you don’t think about his mid-range game. You don’t think about none that. You don’t think about him driving off the tee.

“All you think about is he can’t make it to four days walking before you even think about him swinging. Walking the 18-hole course is not something he can do anymore, and that has been the case for years. And that’s all I mean when I say he’s recreational because he can’t do it anymore. It’s just that simple.”

Smith’s co-host on First Take, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, also chimed in on Tiger Woods. He seemed more dismayed than anything.

“If ever a guy has more bad luck, it’s him,” Russo said. “I mean, who would have thought a ripped Achilles? My goodness, it just came out of absolute nowhere. Listen, it’s hard to think he’s going to come back and be a factor at 50. He hasn’t won on the PGA Tour in six years. Last major was the 2019 Masters, did not make the cut at the British Open. So it’s more of a symbolic loss than it is an actual loss for the actual sport itself.”

Still, Russo admitted he felt horrible for Tiger Woods. It’s hard to watch a great stumble to the finish line.

“The thing to me is, what — the guy never gets a break,” Russo said. “I mean, he never gets any break whatsoever. And this again, he’s getting ready for the Masters. Would have been fun to see him here next month, and now we don’t get a chance to see him, if at all, until next year. Along the lines of a guy who’s had absolutely no luck, some of it’s self-induced, no luck in the last, say, eight, nine years of his life, really, from a sports standpoint. It’s terrible.”