PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif.
The gravitas of a Tiger Woods press conference begins well before he says a word.
This one began with a point.
He walked up to the podium and his gait, in all fairness, has improved.
There’s been some significant trial-and-error in the time since St. Andrews.
It’s not all the way thereit never will bebut it’s certainly improved.
“It’s gotten so much better the last couple months,” he said.
“I’m excited to go out there and compete and play with these guys.
That’s my mentality.
Plus, also I know this golf course.”
He has not won a tournament in nearly four years.
He hasn’t walked 72 holes over four consecutive days in 2023.
And yet, he believes he can do it.
Still, at age 47, he believes he can do it.
He still has plenty of speed.
That hasn’t been an issue since he returned from the car accident.
He made the cut in the first two majors of last year.
He’s shot multiple rounds in the mid 60’s at his home course in South Florida.
His sharpness at the PNC Championship in December caught Jim “Bones” Mackay off-guard.
“Nothing impressed me more than how well [Tiger] played,” Bones said that week.
“I was out there thinking, oh my gosh, it’s a Ryder Cup year.”
The raw tools are therehe can still hit all the shots necessary to win a PGA Tour event.
That won’t be the case for very much longer.
Which means we’re headed, eventually, for a fascinating decision.
he says, not intimidated by Strange in the slightest.
“There’s really no point.
Woods' career surely has surpassed even his own expectations of himself.
A 21-year-old kid with the world at his fingertips isn’t thinking about being 47 with a bad back.
He’s thinking even less about being 65 years old and shooting 80-79 at the Masters.
Aceremonial golfer,as Woods has said with more than a hint of disdain.
He doesn’t ever want to be a ceremonial golfer.
That’s the thing about golf, thoughbasically every Hall of Famer has served time as a ceremonial golfer.
This isn’t football, where a geriatric suiting up would constitute a serious health hazard.
Old-timers can play in the same tournament as the 25-year-old swinging it 125 mph.
It’s a rite of passage among the all-time greats.
Jack Nicklaus played in the Masters well past the time he had a realistic shot of winning it.
Gary Player played in 52 of them.
Arnold Palmer got to 50.
No one’s ever done more for events than Tiger Woods.
Having him on the tee sheet injects an event with adrenaline.
But will he want to be there when he no longer believes his best is good enough?
I can’t have my mind, I can’t wrap my mind around that as a competitor.
If I’m playing in the event I’m going to try and beat you.
I’m there to get a W, OK?
So I don’t understand that making the cut’s a great thing.
He hates the thought of it.
In other words, it goes against the very fiber of his being.
“So much of what made Tiger great is his tenacity,” Dr. Lardon told me.
It’s not easy.
It’s not easy at all.
But it’s possible for you to’t be great forever.
We do, at some point, move on into another stage.
Whether Woods' stance softens remains to be seen.
Hell, Tiger’s changed.
He’s much more open and vulnerable these days.
He’s a mentor of sorts to the Justin Thomases and Rory McIlroys of the world.
Woods used to show up to tournaments like they were business trips.
That stopped with his back surgeries.
“That’s when I started realizing the mortality of this game and just sports in general.”
Either way, he’ll get there on his own time.
And when he does, according to 21-year-old Tiger, that would mark the end of his playing days.
But a few things he said Tuesday suggest an evolving view of his own role in the game.
He said he’s grateful simply to be here on the grounds this week.
NotI can’t come around,orI’ll never come around.He just hasn’t gotten there.
