Tiger Woods is making another comeback, but will this finally be the one?
Tiger Woods has been medically cleared now, but does that really mean anything in the bigger picture?
Between ongoing injury trouble and occasional off-course issues, Tiger Woods has not been at a high level as a competitive golfer for a long time now. He had fusion surgery on his lower back in April, which seemed to put a return to the PGA Tour on another indefinite hold.
But according to Bob Harig of ESPN, via Woods’ agent Mark Steinberg, the former No.1 golfer in the world has been medically cleared for full golf activities after a checkup late last week.
"“He got a nice report and is allowed to proceed,” Steinberg said. “He can do as much as he needs to do. Tiger is going to take this very, very slowly. This is good, but he plans to do it the right way.”"
Woods has posted videos showing his progress swinging a golf club, which has apparently ramped up just since the start of October.
Smooth iron shots pic.twitter.com/v9XLROZnfW
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 7, 2017
Making Progress pic.twitter.com/I3MZhJ74kI
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 15, 2017
As for when Woods might make a return to competition, Steinberg would not attach a timetable.
“We have not even talked about it,” “We will see what each day brings, what each week brings.”
Woods has not played since withdrawing from a tournament in Dubai back in February, in his third tournament after sitting out more than a year after back surgery in 2015.
We’ve seen this before with Woods. He has made progress after a health issue, only to suffer a setback, fall well short of his prior standard when he returns to a competitive tournament or some combination of the two.
For what it’s worth, based on the little he and we all have seen, Woods’ former swing coach Hank Haney thinks his former pupil’s remodeled swing is “good enough” to win as he offered a brief breakdown of some key aspects.
That’s a swing he could win with, it’s not across the line and stuck inside coming down, a little stiff looking but it’s good enough https://t.co/ZlVyyCKG3H
— Hank Haney (@HankHaney) October 16, 2017
Related Story: 5 reason Tiger Woods' comeback will be a disaster
Woods may be good enough to play well, by most standards, when or if he returns to tour play. But the question is whether that standard of “good enough” will be good enough for him, assuming he even stays healthy enough to play regularly.