Twistity Sports Exclusive: TAMING A TIGER

 
Pardon the old joke, but here goes …

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Weak back.”

“Since when?”

“Oh, a week back.”

We’ll wait until you have composed yourself. OK.

There was a temptation to write these very lines about Tigers Woods, well, a week back. That’s when he decided to play in the PGA Championship – he missed the cut – despite back spasms that caused him to pull out of a previous tournament. He also had back surgery about five months ago.

Now his season is over. Woods announced on his website on Wednesday night that he will not play in any other PGA Tour events this season and will not seek one of the three captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup team. “I’ve been told by my doctors and trainer that my back muscles need to be rehabilitated and healed,” he said on tigerwoods.com. “They’ve advised me not to play or practice now. I was fortunate that my recent back injury was not related to my surgery and was muscular only.”

Woods was no lock for the Ryder Cup in any event. He didn’t qualify for one of the nine spots that are based on accrued points and Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson had been watching him with a skeptical eye.

If all goes well with his rehab, Woods expects to play in the World Challenge in December. We’ll be watching. We always do. We’ll see if people watch without him.

Today’s question: Will you miss seeing Tiger Woods, or do you feel as if you haven’t really seen him most of this year? Answers in the comments box, please.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .