Tiger Woods

Remember Tiger Woods? The dynamic flat-belly whose red shirt on Sunday meant domination of 18 more holes and another tournament win?

You may not. His last victory was in 2013. His last major? That was in 2008. It was the 14th of a spectacular career and he was certainly going to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ career mark of 18.

Then his back went out..and stayed out.

Woods, 41, had his fourth back surgery in April, knowing it would remove him from all four majors this year after having missed them all in 2016. He keeps a low profile. But when he speaks, or posts to his Twitter page or web page, we listen.

And Tiger spoke. No, you won’t be seeing him on the first tee anytime soon. But once again he has raised hopes of a return.

“I haven’t felt this good in years,” he wrote Wednesday. The fusion surgery in April had relieved the excruciating nerve pain that afflicted him when he stood, when he sat, when he stretched out in bed.

As of now, this recovery means he can more or less try to live a normal life. Play with his kids. Take walks. He said he can’t twist or turn for three more months and he mainly wants to get well. He will not predict when he might return to competitive golf.

“There’s no hurry,” Woods wrote. “But, I want to say unequivocally, I want to play professional golf again.”

We might not see that red shirt again. At least we’re not seeing a white flag.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman