The biggest takeaway from Tiger Woods’s press conference on Tuesday was that he apparently doesn’t have a timetable for when he will be back.
The other item of note is that, dang, things sure sounded, well, sort of not great.
Here’s more, from the same AP story: “The hardest part for me is there’s really nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build toward,” Woods said. “It’s just taking it literally just day by day and week by week and time by time.”
And this:
He had another microdiscectomy Sept. 16 and then he revealed Oct. 30 another “procedure,” which he said was in the same spot. Asked the degree to which he can function, Woods said, “I walk. I walk and I walk some more.”
Oh, and also, this (emphasis mine):
He agreed to be a vice captain under Davis Love III at the Ryder Cup next year, though Woods still wants to play in the matches. He says it has been two months since he hit a golf ball — “a chip shot left handed” — and that he passes most his time playing video games.
And this part, about, as AP writes, the “first step” in his return is “getting healthy enough to play soccer with his two children.”
“If I can get to that, then we can start talking about golf,” he said. “But let me get to where I can pass the time and really be a part of my kids’ life in the way that I want to be part of it physically, not just as a cheerleader.”
Aw, man.
How’d everyone else feel about this press conference, which happened at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas? Here, a sampling of headlines:
• Tiger Woods has “no timetable” for a return and 7 other things we learned from his (mostly sad) press conference (Golf Digest)
• Tiger Woods’ sorry state: Barely walks, plays video games all day (New York Post)
That is thee most depressing Tiger pressed I've ever heard, read, seen. Brutal. The body can can only take and give an athlete so much
— Arron Oberholser (@ArronOberholser) December 1, 2015
Woods, who turns 40 this month, underwent back surgery in 2014, and then again in September. He also had a follow-up procedure that happened in October.