Woods’ comments say it all

Tiger Woods held an historic press conference this week as part of his duties as host of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Woods’ words set the golf world, and the sports world, on their collective ears by verbalizing what many people had speculated for some time now about the man who dominated golf for nearly two decades like nobody else ever had.
He acknowledged his career as a professional golfer may be over. He has no timetable for when he might return or even if he might return after having three procedures, micodiscectomies to be specific, on the same spot in his back.
Here are some of his comments.
“I think pretty much everything beyond this will be gravy,” he said. “I’ve passed Jack (Nicklaus) on the all-time win list (79 to 73), just shy of Sam (Snead, 82). I passed Sam basically a decade ago (and everyone else) in major championships but I’m still shy of Jack’s. So I’ve had a pretty good career for my 20s and 30s. For my 20 years out here, I think I’ve achieved a lot, and if that’s all it entails, then I’ve had a pretty good run.”
These don’t sound like the words of a man who is determined to be back in a few weeks or months. Actually they sound like a man who is pretty much at peace with his being almost 40 and with a body that’s finally broken down after years of abuse from an intense workout routine to countless hours of hitting balls and playing.
This quote might be the most telling as to Woods’ mindset and his outlook on his future.
“I think pretty much everything beyond this (14 major champions and 79 PGA Tour wins) will be gravy,” Woods said.
I have been criticized several times for stating my opinions about Woods in this space and that’s fine. With opinions come criticism and I am fine with that. Like elbows and kneecaps, everybody has opinions.
And it’s been my opinion that since Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, he’s been on a downward slide that’s gotten him to this point. Out of the mess that the last seven years were, was the 2013 season in which he somehow won five times.
His personal life became a very public disaster starting on Thanksgiving night of 2009, adding to the complexity of a deteriorating golf game.
Woods’ legion of fans refused to believe the breakdown of his body could actually prematurely end his career before he was able to get his 19th major title and legitimately lay claim to being the best to ever play the game.
Looking objectively at it, however, it was obvious he was having more and more difficulty not only competing, but making it to the weekend and then even completing rounds. I have said for a couple years that the chances of him winning five more majors were virtually zero.
To listen to Woods the other day, however, his new goals don’t involve green jackets or trophies.
“I just started walking the other day. I walk 10 minutes on the beach. That’s it,” he said. “Then I come back home and lie back down on the couch, or a bed. I want to be a part of my kids’ life in the way that I want to be part of it, physically. I would like to be able to get to that first. If I can get to that, then we can start talking about golf.”
Woods said there is no timetable for a possible return because he’s just recently begun to walk with no thought given to doing anything golf related.
The man has done some wondrous things over his 19-year career, defying the odds and sticking it to the naysayers. It would take one of those wondrous things for him to get into the kind of physical and competitive shape required for someone to compete in the U.S. Open.
That’s a disappointment for western Pennsylvania fans who’ll be at Oakmont in mid-June to see this year’s Open.
Imagine, though, for a minute how much of a disappointment this has to be for a guy who was so dominant for so long. Being able to walk for 10 minutes at a time followed by rest is a long way from grinding out 72 holes on a brutal U.S. Open setup at a place like Oakmont CC.
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