The fact that Tiger Woods "didn't rule out a return to golf this year" in his statement last Friday suggests that, at the very least, any return to the sport is some way off. But could Woods be wilier than we're giving him credit for? Is he planning on getting back into the swing of things earlier than indicated?
It's possible. Woods' caddie Steve Williams recently suggested in an interview that the golfer was nearly done with therapy, saying "As Tiger pointed out in his statement, he has one more visit to the place where he is receiving his counselling. Then I would imagine his focus might change a little bit from then. Hopefully, it will be his final visit to the place he is receiving treatment and then his focus might turn a little back to his professional life, which is playing golf."
According to The Times newspaper, a separate source also indicated Woods could be making a sooner-than-expected comeback. Perhaps even more intriguingly, there have also been suggestions that Woods had initially planned to name a date for his return, but changes were made to his speech at the 11th hour, for so far unspecified reasons.
Perhaps the aim was to add to the gravitas of his speech; was the 34-year-old seeking to convey a sense of real suffering by suggesting that golf seemed relatively unimportant? Of course, such a move would seem pretty cynical if Woods is back on the fairways anytime soon.
While Woods has returned to silence now the obligation of a public apology is out of the way, his mother, Kultilda, is happy to yak it up with the press. “You know what? I’m so proud to be his mother. Period. This thing, it teaches him, just like golf. When he changes a swing… he wants to get better… He will start getting better… it’s just like that. Golf is just like life, when you make a mistake, you learn from your mistake and move on stronger. That’s the way he is. People don’t understand that Tiger has a very good heart and soul. Sometimes I think there is a complete double standard."
A complete double standard. While we're mulling over that particular pearl of wisdom, though, at least Bernard Gallacher has more constructive advice for Woods. The veteran Scot has spoken out in public to say he believes that Woods should dump his management team.
Gallacher reckons the people Woods has surrounded himself with have helped contribute to the golfer's current problems, or at least not shown enough guidance and responsibility when it comes to trying to fix those problems. He also says that Woods should curb his behaviour on the golf course as well as off it, echoing Tom Watson by imploring the world No. 1 to cut out the swearing and general lack of etiquette that Woods is sometimes guilty of.
Remarkably, the Dalai Lama has weighed in too. Questioned on Woods, the world's foremost Buddhist said that "Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse." That's clearly a programme that would benefit Woods too, which makes you wonder why he's even bothering going back to rehab when he could just tackle his problems from his recently rediscovered spiritual standpoint.
Of course, the most interesting part of all this is that the Dalai Lama isn't much of a golf fan - and in fact admitted to having never heard of Woods. Dal me old china, there have been times in the last few days when we wish we could say the same.
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