Less than three weeks after suggesting a return to golf any time soon seemed unlikely, Tiger Woods is training in earnest with his swing coach Hank Haney.
At Woods' televised public apology last month, the prospect of a return to play even this year seemed in doubt. Though the exercise in contrition was conducted entirely on Woods' terms, the 34-year-old did at least succeed in genuinely rocking most viewers back on their heels when he told the watching world that he didn't know when he would return to golf.
While not ruling out a resumption of his career this year, his words seemed to indicate such a comeback seemed a long way off. And if that move seemed calculated to make us believe that the golfer was truly trying to right his mistakes, it was an effective strategy - though perhaps not an entirely heartfelt one. Similarly, the golfer's explanation that he was set to return to therapy the day after he'd made his public statement indicated that the world No. 1 had some distance to travel before whatever demons he was facing were to be conquered.
But he's clearly come on in leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. Woods appears to be gearing up to resume his career pretty sharpish now, maybe even in time to contest the Masters next month.
Woods was back in training at a range near his home in Isleworth, Florida at the weekend, adding more credibility to the long-mooted suggestion that the 14-time major winner would ease his way back into competitive golf with an appearance at the Tavistock Cup later this month, following that up at the PGA Tour's Bay Hill Invitational event two days later. Either event could serve as a warm-up for Augusta, to ensure that Woods was approaching something like match fitness after his long lay-off (just perhaps not as long as first indicated).
From a golfing point of view, it's great to see Woods back in action, of course. And many people would argue that what the golfer gets up to in his personal life has very little to do with anyone outside of his immediate family. Fair points - but you don't have to deal in manufactured outrage not to look back at Woods' public statement with some small degree of disgust, when the events of a few weeks later strongly suggest that at least part of that statement was bogus.
The lesson seems to be that if you put a sad look on your face and say you're really, really sorry, a surprisingly credulous percentage of the media will eat up your every word. Following Woods' performance, the golfer was described in some quarters as looking like a broken man, and his contrition was so moving to television pundit Charlie Rymer that the man shed a tear on air while commenting on the Woods' apology.
Don't cry for Tiger, Charlie - seems the guy has been making surprisingly swift progress since February.
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