Tiger Woods turns 40, but it sure looks like 70


Tiger Woods turns 40 Wednesday. Forty, going on 70.

It certainly seems that way what with all the injuries and surgeries and controversies and missed tournaments and headlines stretching across the decades since he appeared as a 2-year-old on The Mike Douglas Show in 1978.

Happy Birthday to the oldest 40-year-old in sports.

It’s almost hard to believe that the ultra-talented, brash 21-year-old who won the Masters by 12 strokes in 1997 is now middle-aged.

Then again, it’s not hard to believe at all. Just as Tiger was in a hurry to win majors, it turns out he also was in a rush to reach middle age. Not by choice, of course, but it appears to have been inevitable, considering how he lived his life outside of golf, how he contorted his body to make a golf ball do what he wanted it to do (putting tremendous pressure on a back that eventually couldn’t take it anymore), how he drove himself so hard so fast that he has driven himself right out of the game he once dominated, at least for the time being.

It all played out in front of our eyes: major by major, year by year, even if we didn’t realize it at the time. He was young, the youngest man to achieve the career Grand Slam and the fastest to reach 50 tournament victories on the PGA Tour. He was going to easily catch Jack Nicklaus’ 18 majors, and pass him on his way to 20. Maybe 25? Whatever you could imagine, it might come true.

And then, he wasn’t young anymore. Tiger was only 32 when he famously won the 2008 U.S. Open on what turned out to be a broken leg. It was to be his last victory in a major – to date, or forever, depending on your level of optimism.

Little more than a year later, Tiger was caught from behind on the final day of a major for the very first time, losing the 2009 PGA Championship to Y.E. Yang, hardly an equal. At the time it was viewed as a significant upset, not a watershed moment in Tiger’s career. Now, it’s seen as much more the latter than the former.

And then, the big one: Tiger destroyed his marriage with a personal scandal the likes of which the sports world had never seen, then started breaking down physically, missing months at a time, undergoing surgical procedures the way he used to rack up major titles.

This fact says it all: Tiger has had three surgical procedures on the same spot in his back in a span of 19 months. And it hasn’t been just the back: at various times, he has had knee, Achilles, leg, wrist and neck problems, including four surgeries on his left knee alone.

Tiger says that since his third back surgery on Oct. 28, he can only stretch a little and walk. He is not able to play golf, not at all. See what I mean about 40 going on 70? Most 40-year-olds who love golf find more time for it as they get older. Tiger is going the wrong way.

And yet, a milestone birthday also comes with hope. Interestingly, even though the Masters always will be Tiger’s best shot at another major victory, he went oh-for-his-30s in Augusta. Unbelievable, but true. He last won the Masters in 2005, when he was 29.

That’s a run of bad luck that none of us saw coming.

Then again, Tiger should look at the bright side. At least his turbulent 30s are over.


Un muerto y cuatro heridos al volcar un carro de golf en Tenerife


GUÍ DE ISORA (TENERIFE). Un varón ha fallecido y otras cuatro personas han resultado heridas en un accidente con un carro de golf en un hotel del sur de Tenerife, ha informado el Centro Coordinador de Emergencias y Seguridad 112 del Gobierno de Canarias.

El accidente se produjo hacia las 16.31 horas de este viernes en la zona de actividades al aire libre de un hotel en la localidad de Guía de Isora, y al parecer el carro volcó para a continuación caer por un desnivel de unos cuatro metros.

El fallecido es un ciudadano belga que se hospedaba en el hotel Abama, han indicado hoy fuentes del Ayuntamiento de Guía de Isora, las cuales añadieron que las otras cuatro personas estaban en el mismo establecimiento, ubicado junto al campo de golf en el que se produjo el accidente

Como consecuencia del accidente una mujer de 47 años fue atendida de un traumatismo craneal severo y trasladada en helicóptero medicalizado del Servicio de Urgencias Canario al Hospital Universitario de Canarias (HUC).

Las fuentes de la corporación municipal han indicado que la mujer está fuera de peligro.

Un varón de 14 años sufrió un traumatismo craneal de carácter grave, y ha sido ingresado en Hospital Sur, al igual que un varón 44 años que fue atendido de un traumatismo torácico severo, y una mujer de 44 años que presentaba traumatismo en cadera de carácter menos grave ha sido trasladada al mismo centro hospitalario.

David Feherty's Charmed Life: Golf's Iconoclast Comes Clean


Next year, golf is returning to the Olympics for the first time in more than a century – and a Vandyke-bearded bipolar alcoholic who sometimes covers PGA tournaments while dressed like a pirate will be doing the play-by-play.

"I've never been sure about the whole drug-testing aspect of the Olympics," says David Feherty, 57, a former European Tour player from Northern Ireland whose training regimen once included weed, cocaine and a daily dose of 40 Vicodin and two and a half bottles of whiskey. "If they come up with a drug that helps you play golf better, I am going to be so pissed – I looked for that for years."

In the staid world of pro golf, Feherty is a smart, funny wild card whose cult celebrity is transcending the sport. He covers PGA tournaments while describing a player as having "a face like a warthog stung by a wasp" on live TV, does standup, writes bestselling novels and hosts a Golf Channel show where he gets guests like Bill Clinton and Larry David to open up about their games and lives. Feherty's secret? Sober since 2005, he's now got nothing to hide. "One of the advantages of having a fucked-up life is that other people are more comfortable telling you about theirs," he says. "I see from a different side of the street than most people."

Born on the outskirts of Belfast, Feherty turned pro at 18 and quickly embraced the European Tour's hard-living lifestyle. In 1986, after winning the Scottish Open in Glasgow, he went on a bender and awoke two days later on a putting green 150 miles away – alongside Led Zeppelin's road manager, with no recollection of getting there or what happened to his silver trophy. Once while playing in the Swedish Open, he went out for a drink and arose the next day in Denmark. "After that, I always kept $600 in my wallet," he says, "because that's exactly what it cost me to get back to the golf club just in time to miss my starting time."

After a middling pro career, he became a PGA Tour commentator in 1997, eventually moving to Dallas, raising a family, getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder and sobering up. An insomniac who still struggles with depression – "I get overwhelmed by sadness several times a day and spend a lot of time in tears" – Feherty has managed to achieve success by channeling his restlessness into his work. "I now take 14 pills a day – antidepressants, mood stabilizers and amphetamines," he says. "The Adderall is enough to tear most people off the ceiling, but I can take a nap."

For Feherty, 2016 will be a turning point. After 19 years working as a commentator for CBS, he'll move to NBC – a transition that allows him to take his talent beyond the fairways. In addition to the Olympics, he'll cover the international Ryder Cup and other tournaments while continuing to host his talk show – and is even looking to conquer new sports.

"Remember Fred Willard in Best in Show?" he asks. "If there's a place somewhere for a golf analyst where no technical knowledge is required, I would love to jump in – I just want to be challenged again."

As he prepares for the next chapter in his improbable career, Feherty spoke to Rolling Stone about partying like a rock star, cultivating his rumpled mystique and changing the face of golf.

A lot of musicians are also avid golfers – why do you think that is?

So many musicians play golf, especially people in rock & roll, but most of them use golf as an alternative to drugs and alcohol. I think for addicts, spare time is their worst enemy. And you know, golf takes up time – actually it's one of the problems with the game, but it works in our favor.

Speaking of, there's lot of talk these days about trying to make golf faster, to attract younger viewers and get more people playing. Does the sport need to change to survive?

Golf has always gone against the image that it's for rich white men, and to a certain extent, it is, but before Sam Snead it was a bunch of twitty old duffers smoking pipes and wearing jackets. Sam Snead really made it look like an athletic pastime. Arnold Palmer kind of started the modern era – he made it sexy back in the '50s and '60s. And Tiger Woods reinvented the game. We're seeing the effect of that now, with these youngsters that have come up – Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth and Jason Day and Rickie Fowler, and dozens more of these colorful characters – they were 9, 10, 11 years old when Tiger Woods was on his feet, and they're making the game cool again. Golf reinvents itself every 20 or 30 years or so.

Thirty years ago, you won the Scottish Open – then woke up two days later on a green alongside Led Zeppelin's former road manager. Can you tell the story there?

Well, I won the 1986 Scottish Open and it seemed like a good idea. That was back when I was really just getting into not just golf and being successful, but the rush of performing in front of a bunch of people and applause and adulation. I didn't know it at the time, but I'm bipolar and it was something to deal with the strangeness in my life. I got addicted to pain killers fairly early. You know, "comfortably numb," as Pink Floyd put it. And that's where I needed to be at the time. And I'm Northern Irish, so I remember the last physical I had with my doctor where alcohol became a problem. He looked at the numbers and said, "Hey, have you ever thought about getting help?" And I said, "No, I can drink it all by myself."

That particular instance was kind of during the ascent of those problems. I headed into Glasgow that night to a concert and woke up two days later at Gleneagles, which was 150 miles away, and Peter was poking me with a stick like a dead stag. I had half of a train ticket to London that I hadn't used. So I came to London and got back to Scotland – but I had no idea how. It's still confusing to this day. Oh, and the Scottish Open trophy is still lost. God only knows where the hell it is.
What was a typical day like for back then, in terms of drugs and alcohol?

A typical day was 30-40 Vicodin and two and a half bottles of whiskey…real whiskey. Whiskey with an 'e.' There was cocaine, there was dope. When I think about it now I'm like, "Why am I alive?"

You mentioned bipolar disorder and kind of self-medicating. When did you actually get diagnosed?

Really only about ten years ago. That was right at the time when I was sober. That was the first time I had seen a psychiatrist. And I went for about six of those [sessions] before I got properly diagnosed. I was like, "Oh shit, really? There's a word for how I feel?" It was quite a revelation to me. I was with CBS at that point, and let me see…I've been in the broadcasting industry for almost 20 years now.

What finally helped you get sober?

It was two things: My wife and Tom Watson. I was doing a TV thing in Canada with Jack Nicklaus and Tom, and at one point, Tom just put his hand over the camera and said, "You're not well, are you?" and I said, "No, I'm not." I asked him how he knew, and he said, "I can see it in your eyes." And I said, "What do you see?'" and he said, "My reflection.'"

And I didn't know that Tom had a problem at that point. Very few people did. He said, "You need to come with me when we're done here." And I'm trying to back out; we're on Prince Edward Island, and Tom's [lives in] Kansas City, so I said, "How am I going to get to Kansas City?" And I hear this voice behind me say, "I have a G5!" So I'm getting heckled by Jack Nicklaus, who sent me there with his G5, and I went with Tom and he looked after me for 2 or 3 days and I've been sober ever since.
But I would emphasize it has a great deal to do with my wife, as well. When I met her I was penniless, I had lost my damn [playing] privileges in the United States, I was homeless, I had a vehicle that was all I had, because I had been through this horrifying divorce. I was just a penniless, homeless, alcoholic drug addict and she looked at me and said, "Well I can fix that."

I read you have short-term memory loss because of all that. Have you forgotten things on air?

Oh yeah! But to be honest with you, adrenaline kind of kicks in – and I'm not quite sure how much of it is due to the blows to the head. I've had a tremendously accident-prone career with injuries, you know. I've been run over three times by motor vehicles. When I got sober I took to riding a bike, to fill in some of that free time that was so dangerous, and I'd been sober about nine months when I got run over by a trailer on my way home. Well, I got hit by the pickup truck that was towing the trailer first. I remember flying through the air and thinking to myself, "If this is a fucking beer truck, I will actually die from irony."

I've seen pictures of you when you were a younger, clean-cut guy. Now you've got the Vandyke beard and the wavy hair. What inspired your transformation?

You know, my wife says I look like a homeless person that just robbed Nordstrom. That's essentially what it is. I've always been notably comfortable in a necktie that's never been actually tied properly
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Did you ever think you'd be doing television? Because you're really good at it.

There are advantages to having a mental illness. You know, I tell people I don't suffer from bipolar disorder, I live with it. And I'd rather not have it, but whether it's Autism, those kids are brilliant at something. They are all able-minded people who are good at something and it's our responsibility to find out what that something is. For me, I see from a different side of the street than most people. And I think one of the reasons I got hired to do commentary is the ability to describe something differently.

You had mentioned some of the young players – Spieth, Fowler, Watson – and they're great, but they seem boring compared to some of the guys from your era. Is that a good thing? Does golf need more characters?

Well, we had idiots for sure in my era, but what's not boring about these kids is the way that they play. Anybody who is a fan of the game knows it's a spectacular time to watch golf. The guys are just so much better than we were. Even the best players of my era – the best players now are just better. I guess it's just the way that the world is at the minute; they seem less interesting because they can't afford to be interesting, thanks to social media and all that. And you know, those things are supposed to be a benefit to the human race. I don't know if I see that.

Next year, you'll move to NBC Sports, where you'll be doing the Ryder Cup and the Olympics. You've also got your interview show, Feherty. What's left for you to do at this point?

You know, I find it very difficult to think in terms of the future. I live in the present and wherever that takes me. I couldn't do baseball, I couldn’t do football. So, honestly, I don't know. I'd love to start drinking again [laughs].

Can Grown-Up Putting Courses Fix the Crisis Facing Golf?

Legendary resorts like Bandon Dunes and Pinehurst are hoping that sophisticated putting-only courses will lure more golfers to the links


“WHAT DO YOU THINK OF our playground?” Michael Chupka asks me, as we skirt a 100,000-square-foot carpet of ice-slick “fine fescue” turfgrass, a swatch of land with more humps and bumps than a hasty battlefield burial site. Chupka is the lead evangelist (and director of communications) here at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the craggy coast of Oregon, and with him is Brandon Carter, one of the head pros. It’s midafternoon on the back slope of summer and the three of us are here to lay out the 18 holes that will transform this tabula rasa putting green into the Punchbowl—a sleek, challenging, “grown-up” putting-only course. The holes, reconfigured each day, bring to mind miniature golf, but a natural putting course like this one preserves some of the dignity you lose with artificial turf and windmills.

The point of the Punchbowl, according to Chupka, is to provide another opportunity to compete, but at a lower register. After looping around one or two of the championship courses—Bandon Dunes claims four of the 15 top-ranked public courses in the country— golfers will often move over to the Punchbowl for happy hour. While a championship course can run $300 a round, the Punchbowl is free to resort guests—or anyone who makes the four-hour drive from Portland. Bandon Dunes isn’t the first resort to roll out a “serious” putting-only course (see sidebar). But based on the attention surrounding its unveiling in 2014 and the number of developers who visit to take stock, it’s the Punchbowl that seems poised to lead a surge of courses like it in America.

By the time we stamp our 18th tee marker (complete with handcrafted cup holder) and flagstick into the green, players have already started on our front nine, Oregon IPAs and Columbia Valley chardonnays in hand. I hang near the 18th hole and wait for the first group to reach the final tee. Brad Klein, from Indianapolis, and Mike Wines, from Brownsville, Ind., were in Portland for a trade show, but drove four hours out of their way to spend the afternoon at Bandon—not to play one of the championship courses (“too damned expensive,” Wines says), but to see Bandon Dunes with their own eyes and get in a gratis 18 on the buzzy putting course.

“We’re playing for a beer, and it’s a tight match,” Wines says. “Otherwise we would’ve asked you to play along.” Still, they have me take a run at 18 with them. It’s straight up the hill from one preposterous flat to another, the dumbest hole we devised, as unlike something you’d see on a real course as the mini-golf hole that asks you to putt into the vent of a volcano. Absurdly, I make the putt. Klein and Wines rib me about sandbagging them and I confess that I co-designed today’s course. They seemed to have enjoyed themselves enough to justify the trip—the whole round took just 40 minutes—and I watch them hike up to the restaurant for another beer.

I didn’t expect a putting course to alter my thinking about the future of the game. By the time the sun fell over the edge (lights come up for night putting for special events), I was beginning to think of the Punchbowl approach as a novel—and eminently actionable—way out of the well-documented crisis in golf.

That is, this one: Coinciding with the Tiger “spike” of the late-’90s, an explosion of new young (and older) players triggered a proliferation of courses that charged a not-terribly-affordable amount and sought serious golfers whose commitment was taken for granted. In the past two decades, though, as the Tiger bubble burst and the number of young players dropped, a glut of underused courses have closed. Everyone from Golf Digest to the USGA to the PGA of America has encouraged nine-hole rounds in a semi-desperate effort to get people (like this golfer, who used to spend multiple days a week playing) back to the golf course in their ’90s numbers. A real solution, though, is going to require not just a tourniquet, but creative regeneration.

What’s missing is attention to the expansive middle ground between no golf and regulation-length golf. There are par-3 courses and executive courses—but there could be more. Options like Topgolf—driving ranges with bright lights, booze and arcade-style scoring—appeal more to nongolfers than golfers who just want a smaller-scale version of what they already love.

A serious putting course is golf distilled to its fundamental joy spots, like a trailer for a movie. The Punchbowl offers everything that committed players love about the game—the beauty of the course, the challenge, the competition—but simultaneously appeals to novice golfers. It’s the sort of thing every golf course and club should take a hard look at—not just for members but for the beginners and along-for-the-riders, who might transform a spark into a love affair. At an hour a pop, a putting course reminds you how good golf can be—the Punchbowl as regenerator of faith in the good stuff of the game.

Turning 40, the golfer talks about his highs and lows on and off the course


Tiger Woods was raised to be a champion. Groomed by a father who put a golf club in his hands before he could walk, Woods has been one of the most dominant athletes of all time since turning pro at 20 in the summer of 1996. His 14 major tournament championships are second only to Jack Nicklaus’ total of 18, a record he once seemed destined to surpass. But Woods hasn’t won another major since 2008, before his infidelities led to a high profile divorce from Elin Nordegren in 2010. His recent comeback attempts have been derailed by injuries.
Now, Woods is facing the very real possibility that his record-setting career will be over by the time he turns 40 on Dec. 30. Ahead of that milestone, Woods sat down for a rare one-on-one interview with TIME at his restaurant in Jupiter, Fla. With a bag of ice on his back, Woods talked about his desire to keep playing, his relationship with his ex-wife, why he and Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn broke up, the highs and lows of his career on the course and his feelings about watching golf on TV (“I can’t stand it”).
Where are you right now with your recovery?
I have just started walking. That’s it.
You were just sitting all day at home?
Mm-hmm.
What’s a day of rehab like for you now?
I walk 10 minutes on the beach. That’s it. Then I come back home and lie back down on the couch, or a bed.
Do you watch golf?
I can’t remember the last time I watched golf. I can’t stand it. Unless one of my friends has a chance to win, then I like watching it. I watched Jason [Day] win the PGA. But it was on mute. It’s always on mute and I have some other game on another TV.
Do you have any recovery goals? With past injuries, you have.
Absolutely. But this one, I can’t. There’s no timetable. And that’s a hard mind-set to go through. Because I’ve always been a goal setter. Now I had to rethink it, and say, O.K., my goal is to do nothing today. For a guy who likes to work, that’s a hard concept for me to understand. I’ve learned a little bit of it, I think. I know that, one, I don’t want to have another procedure. And two, even if I don’t come back and I don’t play again, I still want to have a quality of life with my kids. I started to lose that with the other surgeries.
Because you couldn’t do things with them?
I’ll never forget when I really hurt my back and it was close to being done, I was practicing out back at my house. I hit a flop shot over the bunker, and it just hit the nerve. And I was down. I didn’t bring my cell phone. I was out there practicing and I end up on the ground and I couldn’t call anybody and I couldn’t move. Well, thank God my daughter’s a daddy’s girl and she always wants to hang out. She came out and said, “Daddy, what are you doing lying on the ground?” I said, “Sam, thank goodness you’re here. Can you go tell the guys inside to try and get the cart out, to help me back up?” She says, “What’s wrong?” I said, “My back’s not doing very good.” She says, “Again?” I say, “Yes, again, Sam. Can you please go get those guys?”
What’s it like when you contemplate the possibility that you’re not going to be able to play again?
Anyone I’ve ever talked to who has had procedures like I’ve had, they say the same thing: you don’t know. With a joint, you know. With a nerve, you just don’t know. I’ve talked to Peyton [Manning] about his neck and what he’s going through. It’s tough as athletes, when you just don’t know. The most important thing, though, is that I get to have a life with my kids. That’s more important than golf. I’ve come to realize that now.
You may not have realized that a few years ago?
One, the kids were still young, they weren’t into as many things. Prior to that, when I didn’t have kids, it would never enter my mind. Are you kidding me? What am I going to do, go bass fishing? No. But now to watch my kids and play sports and to grow up and participate, and even teach them how to become better, oh my God, it gives me so much joy. I can’t imagine not being able to do that as I get older.
That’s more important than winning a golf tournament?
Absolutely. No doubt. My kids are more important to me than anything else in the world.

Tiger Woods on infidelities and his kids - 'I want them to understand before their friends tell them'


Tiger Woods has spoken candidly about his failed marriage to ex-wife Elin Nordegren and how he explained the split to his two children.

In a rare interview, the 39-year-old professional golfer reflected on his highly publicized infidelities that eventually led to the couple’s divorce in 2010, revealing they’re now the best of friends.

Speaking about what he tells his son and daughter, Sam, 8, and Charlie, 6, he admitted he had already started preparing them for the day they are old enough to find out about his affairs.

Speaking to Time magazine, he said: "I’ve taken the initiative with the kids, and told them up front, 'Guys, the reason why we’re not in the same house, why we don’t live under the same roof, Mommy and Daddy, is because Daddy made some mistakes.'”

“I just want them to understand before they get to internet age and they log on to something or have their friends tell them something… When they come of age, I’ll tell them the real story... But meanwhile, it’s just, 'Hey, Daddy made some mistakes'. I’d rather have it come from me, and I can tell them absolutely everything.”

He also admitted if he could go back and change anything about his relationship with Elin, he would have been a lot more honest.

"It would be having a more open, honest relationship with my ex-wife. Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She’s one of my best friends," he admitted.

"We’re able to pick up the phone, and we talk to each other all the time. We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids.”

He added that he believed their issues would have come to light if they had been honest with one another and discussed them.

Tiger Woods nowhere near a return to golf


NASSAU, Bahamas -- Tiger Woods has a home here at Albany Golf Club. His yacht is anchored nearby at the marina. His two kids are scheduled to join him here this week at the Hero World Challenge, where he won't be playing golf but will serve as host for his tournament.
Other than that, there is little Woods can do anyway.

He would dearly love to join the 18 players competing in the annual tournament that benefits his foundation, the one that he's captured five times and as recently as two years ago lost in a playoff.
But from listening to him Tuesday during a news conference and later watching him gingerly make his way into a room to talk with a couple of reporters, Woods' immediate goals are far more modest.
He had little information to offer about his golf future, and yet that alone said so much.

"There's nothing like being able to interact with my kids," Woods said. "I hope I can do that soon."
Woods is still hurting from the second of two back procedures performed in the last two and half months. That makes for three such procedures -- called a microdiscectomy to deal with disc issues -- in the last 18 months.

Forget about golf in the short term. This is about quality of life. Woods is about to turn 40, an age at which competitive golf might be an issue but not kicking a soccer ball or going scuba diving.
"I'm just generally sore due to inactivity," Woods said. "It's a real test of my patience and my resolve. It's been hard. No doubt about it. In order to get better, you have to do nothing."

Woods smiled and laughed often during his news conference, his role as host of his annual tournament all but requiring it. He thanked Hero for its sponsorship. Lauded the field assembled,

including No. 1 Jordan Spieth, the defending champion as well as 11 of the top 20 in the world. And reminisced about the day he and his late father, Earl, dreamed of starting a foundation and subsequently a tournament.

But when talk turned to his own game, his own future in it, the mood turned somber, pessimistic. Woods has always been positive about his return from injuries, but he painted a dire picture this time.
"The hardest part for me is there's really nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build towards," Woods said. "Where's the light at the end of the tunnel?"

There have been more than a few who have surmised in recent months that Woods' run as one of the all-time greats in the game is complete, that his numerous injury issues have finally put an end to his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus' 18 major championship record or even winning period.
The fact that Woods engaged in that very topic was telling.

"I think pretty much everything beyond this will be gravy," he said. "I've passed Jack 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.
"But I'm hoping that's not it. I'm hoping that I can get back out here and compete against these guys. I really do miss it. But if that's not the case anymore, then I'll find other avenues, that being growing my foundation, golf course design and other projects I have going on right now that will certainly take up more of my time."

Stunning, really. Woods has never talked so bluntly, so solemnly, about the possibility of having hoisted his last trophy, about never playing golf at a high level again
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And perhaps he knows it's over, that trying to compete with the likes of Spieth and Jason Day and Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson and all manner of highly-skilled players is a tall task for someone who can barely walk, let alone put in the time necessary to play a game that requires so much preparation.

Woods in no way shut the door on such a scenario, but it is clear he is in not in a rush to return as he was in 2014 when he came back from the first microdiscectomy in less than three months.
"The hardest part for me is there's really nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build towards. Where's the light at the end of the tunnel?"
Tiger Woods
"Everything was healed up and ready to go," he said of coming back last year. "Could I have been stronger? Yeah, I could have been stronger, but everything was physically healed and so it was time to go, so I went. Didn't have a very good success rate after that, but that's the way it goes."

Woods said he has no choice but to wait this time, as a third procedure in October meant it would be impossible to speed up a timetable that he said does not exist. When he first had the surgery on March 31, 2014, Woods later explained that he felt immediate relief from the issues that had been troubling. You don't get that sense now, as he struggles to settle into a chair and get his legs off the ground.

It was almost eerie to hear Woods speak about Kobe Bryant, who on Sunday announced that this would be his last season in the NBA.

"You add up all those games, it takes a toll on the body and eventually it just doesn't heal any more," Woods said. "It's been tough to watch him go through the season he's had, and understandably so."
The same could be said for Woods, who endured his worst season as a pro, and yet held out hope that his tie for 10th at the Wyndham Championship in August was the beginning of his turnaround.
Three weeks later, he was having surgery again, has yet to hit a meaningful shot and doesn't know when he will.

Woods spoke glowingly about being able to play soccer with his kids, toss a ball around, do the simple tasks.

"But I just can't bend over that well or I'm not athletic to be able to do those things," he said. "I would like to be able to get to that first. If I can get to that, when we can start talking about golf."
That conversation would appear to be a long way off.

A crocodile eats a dog on Key Biscayne golf course, and that means one thing


Croc population growing and the reptiles likely inhabit most coastal ponds

Dog attacked while chasing birds on golf course

County and state considering response to attack

Florida’s rebounding crocodile population came face to face with civilization over the weekend when a dog chasing birds on the manicured greens of a Key Biscayne golf course was mauled and killed by one of the reclusive reptiles.

The dog’s owner was walking the pit bull terrier mix, weighing between 20 and 25 pounds, off its leash Saturday near the fifth hole at the Crandon Park Golf Course, when it started chasing ducks and geese, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Carol Lyn Parrish. When the dog followed the birds into a pond about 2:20 p.m., a crocodile estimated at five to seven feet long snatched it.

Signs posted in the area warn about the presence of the crocs and dogs are required to be leashed, Miami-Dade County park officials said.

Coastal golf course ponds have become favored habitats for the American crocodile, which nearly disappeared in the 1970s when the population dropped to a few hundred mostly living deep in the Everglades. Federal protections and monitoring programs, including the restoration of a key nesting area on Cape Sable, led to a dramatic rebound.

Scientists estimate there are now between 1,500 to 2,000 in the state, with about 200 living in and around Biscayne Bay, said University of Florida biologist Frank Mazzotti.

But while their numbers have climbed, good crocodile habitat has dwindled. American crocodiles can live in salt and freshwater, but prefer coastal areas. And in heavily developed South Florida, a golf course can often be the closest thing to natural habitat.

“Most of these ponds have a resident croc,” Mazzotti said. “They’re fresh water and free from wind and wave action. The crocs like to hang out. It’s like a living room.”

When the crocs are hungry, they can easily swim to a nearby beach to find fish and other food or lay nests, he said.

But attacks remain rare. Last year, two late-night swimmers who jumped into the Gables Waterway at 2 a.m. were bitten by a croc after they spooked it, becoming the first human attacks. Wildlife officials ordered the croc trapped and killed. In 2012, a 65-pound dog was killed in Key Largo.

Anyone living in Florida, near water, should know the risks of letting a dog run free near water, Mazzotti said.

“They have those laws for good reason,” he said. “Crocs like to eat dogs.”

They like them so much that Mazzotti said some trappers will bark to attract alligators and crocs. The fact that few attacks have occurred indicates how low the risk remains, he said.

“They’re at the [Deering Yacht & Country Club] golf course and ... all the places with ponds along Biscayne Bay,” he said. “And every one of those golfers were in greater risk from driving to the golf course than from any animal present on the golf course.”

Miami-Dade County officials said they have no plans to relocate or kill the croc.