All Is Right in the World; Tiger Woods Is Hitting Golf Balls Again!

Posted Dec 17, 2008 6:43PM By Shane Bacon (RSS feed)

I just want to hug someone. Can I hug you? Please? Just one? It's the Christmas season, and hugging is necessary when you are very happy about something during this time of year. Haven't you see Elf, you freak?

Tiger Woods, the best athlete in the world and basically the reason I still get up in the morning, announced on his website that he is hitting golf balls again, and is right on pace for the Masters. The Masters!!!!!!!! YES! I am actually so happy that I look like the Joker right now, but with fewer scars.

"I'm actually stronger in my leg than I think I've ever been," Tiger said in a press conference today. "As far as hitting full shots, (I've just started) the last couple weeks. So obviously I haven't progressed too far into the bag...It's fun to actually get outside and start swinging again and working on my short game. I've chipped and putted for a while, but as far as making bigger swings, I've actually just started."

In the press conference, Tiger went on to say that his intention is to play a few events before the Masters, but he can't say that is how it is going to go down.

He also dug a little deeper into the Phil Mickelson-Steve Williams issue, saying, "What ended up happening is I communicated with Phil, and we have discussed it. I talked to Stevie about it, and he feels bad, what happened."

Oh, and as far as the player of the year award goes, which went to British Open and PGA Champion Padraig Harrington?

Q: Did you vote for Paddy?

Tiger: I did actually.

Q: Why?

Tiger: He won two.

Q. Is that all it comes down to?

Tiger: Yeah.

The interview is pretty long, and can be found over at Tiger's website, but basically he just chatters about the game, which is something I never thought I'd be this excited to hear.

Woodsy, we've missed you. I sure hope you are back sooner than later.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-17-2008 @ 8:41PM

George said...

Give me some of what you are smoking dude,best athlete on the planet? lol He is a golfer.

12-18-2008 @ 7:31PM

Jesse said...

OK moron he is the best golfer in the world. That make you feel better you dumb redneck.

12-18-2008 @ 9:01AM

Mr. Miyagi said...

Gotta agree with George. Tiger is the best golfer, maybe best ever, but best athlete? Run a decathalon, a true test of athletics, with Tiger, and a top athlete from football, baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis, etc.,and I don't believe Woods could beat any of them. Maybe he could beat the best bowler.

12-18-2008 @ 10:22AM

chefcam said...

I don't understand why these guys write in to say that golf is not a sport? Baseball? Are you kidding me. Go sit back on your couch, drink your budweiser and worship 300# lineman that have to come off the field after every other play. Try accelerating from zero to 150 mph in less than a second, while maintaing balance and tell me golfers aren't athletes, Athletics transends physical strength........but I guess you would have to be athletic to know this.

12-18-2008 @ 11:54AM

spencer096 said...

staying away from the "golf is a sport" debate (which is the worst debate of all time)...

but you gotta think he'll be back before the masters. bay hill? doral? he's not going into Augusta being his first round of competitive golf in 10 months. and frankly, i can't wait.

12-18-2008 @ 4:33PM

I never said Tiger wasn't a great athlete, just not he greatest on the planet. I definetely appreciate his talent.True athletes were measured in ancient olympic contests, running, jumping, etc. Once you bring a ball or a stick, or a bat into the equation, it becomes a skill. Concentrating on a golf ball is a skill, no more difficult and probably less so, than hitting a curve ball moving at 90 MPH, or catching a football while been slammed by a 260 pound linebacker moving as fast as a sprinter. And what has beer got to do with anything Chef?? I've seen athletes from other sports play excellent rounds of golf, but I've never seen a golfer dunk a basketball.

12-18-2008 @ 6:21PM

I am 6'4 and when I was young I could dunk with no problem. That's all the talent I had. Tiger being 6'2 can dunk a basketball. What does that make him? He a golfer that can dunk a basketball

12-18-2008 @ 5:37PM

Miyagi...i'm a golfer and i can dunk a basketball...so much for your attempt at pigeonholing an entire sport into one stereotype.

and there aren't any "degrees" of a sport. a sport is a game that requires an athletic movement...golf qualifies. this is a black/white argument, there's no middle ground. the swing is an athletic movement, therefore golf is a sport.

you know what else were ancient olympic sports? discus, javelin, and pole vaulting...so i guess those don't count either. you're pretty selective.

is tiger the greatest athlete of all time? who knows...if you're basing it on the ability to jump and run, then MJ isn't even in the conversation because there are better specimen than he was. if you're basing it on athletic accomplishment, then tiger has to be on the list, and damn near the top.

this type of rationale is simply shortsighted and biased. because you don't think golf is ENOUGH of a sport, tiger doesn't qualify, but by your same rationale, MJ or whomever the typical, stock responses are for best athletes don't count either because there are better pure athletes than the best winners.

the funny thing is that i actually agree with you that tiger isn't the greatest athlete of all time...at least not yet.

12-18-2008 @ 8:38PM

Spence, I didn't exclude discus or javelin at all. "etc" et cetera, is meant to include others as well without mentionning them specifically. I also didn't say he wasn't an athlete or golf isn't a sport. Your reading appears to be selective. I only maintain that there are more athletically gift people than Tiger Woods in the world. Let me ask a question. How serious a sport do you consider bowling to be?

12-18-2008 @ 5:42PM

andremarshall said...

Tiger will come back strong and hard. He is truly one of the best athletes in the world.

12-18-2008 @ 5:44PM

Shane Bacon said...

Spencer, I couldn't have said it better myself.

I have never really understood the argument that golf isn't a sport, but I guess that is because I'm so engulfed in golf I couldn't see it any other way.

Sprinters just sprint. Swimmers just swim. Golfers think the entire time, on the course and off. Tiger controls his mind better than any athlete that has ever lived. His swing is flawless and the guy isn't exactly a shrimp.

Sounds like an athlete to me.

12-18-2008 @ 10:34PM

steve Highley said...

Define athleticism. People that talk in absolutes make me puke, always... "Best this," "Only he/she..." Whatever. It's like art or
music, it is all subjective. Some 95 pound Ethiopian or a 280 pound 5'5" English dart thrower may be the best athlete. However, Al Bundy's high School career has to be considered.

12-22-2008 @ 10:06PM

John Boyle said...

Tiger Woods is basically the reason that you get still get up in the morning. Come on man, can't you find something better to get up for? How about life in general? That might be a start. Why don't you write a gratitude list. Get real.

12-20-2008 @ 5:17AM

G hale said...

Who cares what Tigger the owner of a wipe Kiwi caddie is doing. He can't hit golf balls with a human so far up his bumb you can only see his overated pc of dung. Only steers and Queers come come from New Zealand and if Williams is a steer that reall has to hurt. Those 2 together are the 2 most idiotic duo since, Stalin/Hitler and the they both have the same views. In other words if you are from New Zealand your a wipe who really is not as "cool" as you think. Isn't New Zealand a pc of dirt in Australia?

12-22-2008 @ 12:21PM

ALFRED said...

I ONLY WATCH GOLF BECAUSE TIGER IS PLAYING. HE IS A SON THAT I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE HAD.I WISH HIS FATHERWHERE ALIVE

12-29-2008 @ 7:45PM

Bob Thomas said...

Golf books that make you feel like you're playing the game. Sample chapters of numbered author editions.. Bob Thomas books

1-01-2009 @ 12:22PM

Bill B said...

Tiger will break all of golfs records before he is done. He is blessed with the physical ability from his fathers blood lines, and the mental ability and toughness from his mothers genes. That is a very unique combination for a golfer.

1-04-2009 @ 12:26AM

tricia said...

Anyone who has ever attempted to play golf can appreciate a player such as Tiger Woods, he is by far the best golfer in a very long while.
He will break all records and I can't wait to watch it all unfold.
Good Luck Tiger, can't wait to see you on the course again.