"I was on the range with him for a half an hour on Tuesday."

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A few of you noticed something we scribes missed during Tim Finchem's press conference to discuss various topics, including Tiger Woods. Steve Elling writes:

Making his first comments to the print media in two months, Finchem strongly reaffirmed statements he made on television earlier in the week after a Golf Channel analyst asserted on the air that Woods only played this week because he had been pressured by the tour to appear at its flagship event. Woods withdrew after nine holes after claiming that he had re-injured his ailing knee.

The tour called the Golf Channel and strenuously complained about the report and Finchem still seem riled about it on Sunday.

"Well, it's not about him, it's any player," he said. "I don't twist players' arms, and as far as Tiger being hurt, guys, that's a decision he has to make, and I had no information that he wasn't ready to play golf.

"I don't think anybody did. I don't think he did. I was on the range with him for a half an hour on Tuesday.  He was hitting it really well. He went and played nine holes, and he didn't have a problem. He played the next day, he didn't have a problem. He stayed on the range that day, he didn't have a problem."

Finchem was with Tiger for a half hour while he hit balls? No wonder Tiger got out of town. He needs to practice in peace!

"The bottom line is that we don't really know what is going on with Woods."

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Mike Bianchi's piece on Tiger's WD and leg issues got a lot of attention Friday for suggesting that Tiger's body is breaking down due to no longer having access to Dr. Spaceman. It's a fair question to ask but barring Dr. Spacemen announcing that he used HGH on Tiger, one that we'll never know the answer to.

A better analysis of the situation came from Ron Sirak in a follow up to yesterday's reporting.

The latest injury was announced April 26 in a statement on TigerWoods.com that said he was withdrawing from the Wells Fargo Championship because of a "Grade 1 mild medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain to his left knee and a mild strain to his left Achilles tendon," which Woods said happened hitting a shot out from under the Eisenhower tree during the third round of the Masters.

"There is no minor injury in a 35-year-old person who has already had four operations," said Dr. Ronald Grelsamer, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. "A highly trained and toned athlete doesn't suffer a debilitating MCL strain and an Achilles strain playing golf. No other golfer in memory has suffered so many lower extremity injuries while golfing."

After Woods withdrew Thursday, many were wondering why he even tried to play if his knee was bothering him that much. He says it's because the Players is an important tournament and because he is trying to prepare for the event he really cares about -- the U.S. Open. There is certainly disagreement among those who follow the game for a living on whether Woods' poor play has more to do with swing issues, knee issues or desire issues. Strong arguments can be made for all three.

"The idea that we would pressure him to play is ludicrous."

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It's not really newsworthy that Tim Finchem went on CNBC this morning to talk business and golf, but that he was asked about the suggestion that the tour encouraged/pressured Tiger to show up. Finchem was apparently not pleased that the insinuation that was made on CNBC sister network Golf Channel Thursday, so miracle of all miracles, the Commissioner was asked about it off the top of the interview:

It's always important for Tiger to be part of the tour, because he's Tiger Woods. But the idea that we would pressure him to play is ludicrous. We don't pressure any player to play the tournament. In this case the suggestion is somehow he was hurt and we got him to play anyway. Tiger doesn't enter a tournament unless he thinks he can win. I was on the range with him tuesday, I watched him hit balls. He practiced that day, he practiced wednesday hard. And he tweaked it yesterday. So, nonissue.

Thanks to reader Jim for the video tip...

Golf Channel's Post Tiger-WD Coverage Posted

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The much talked-about coverage on Golf Channel's Pre-Game show is now posted...all 21 minutes of it. The chatter between Chamblee, Feinstein, Rymer, et. al has generated a lot of buzz here at the TPC both because of the frank nature and some of the speculation that Tiger played this week because he felt obligated to appear after Tim Finchem granted him access to the TPC clubhouse for his return-to-the-spotlight press conference.
Read More

Tiger WD Roundup: Round One 2011 Players

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Doug Ferguson:

Woods had said his leg felt better. But from the opening tee shot at the TPC Sawgrass, he looked as bad as he ever has.

''The knee acted up and then the Achilles followed after that, and then the calf started cramping up,'' Woods said. ''Everything started getting tight, so it's just a whole chain reaction.''

The first hole could not have gone any worse.

He pulled his opening tee shot into the pine trees, leaving him a stance in the pine straw. Then he came up short of the green, his ball perched at the bottom of a steep bank that force another awkward stance.

Ron Sirak:

The winless streak for Woods is now at 541 days. Not only is there no clear indication when he might win again, but now we have no idea when he will play again. There were certainly times Thursday when it appeared as if the last place Tiger Woods wanted to be was on a golf course. And when he left the property after his truncated first round, no one -- not even him -- knew when he would next be on a golf course. A man used to being in control suddenly now has precious little control of his future.

Steve DiMeglio:

Woods looked nothing like the former world No. 1 he once was. He made bogey on the first, hit two balls into the water on the fourth to make triple bogey, made another bogey on the fifth and finished with yet another bogey on the ninth. He hit just one green and had just one birdie putt.

The 42 Woods shot on Thursday was not his worst nine-hole score as a professional. He has shot 43 four times, the most recent coming in last year's Wells Fargo Championship on the back-nine at Quail Hollow in the second round.

Jeff Rude:

This is a different Woods in more ways than one. He’s winless since 2009. He has been rebuilding his life and swing after a sex scandal and subsequent divorce. And now again he’s dealing with physical problems in addition to emotional scars.

As one esteemed golf journalist said soon after the withdrawal, “Tiger’s Achilles’ heel is his Achilles’ heel. It used to be waitresses.”

Steve Elling:

Watching Woods saunter around the ninth green, surveying another lengthy putt to save par, he was visibly favoring his right knee. He looked like that sitcom character, Fred Sanford, but this was no comedy and nobody was laughing. Woods' game was junked.

Even allowing for the rust from the layoff, it was an atrocious round. He flubbed three wedge shots from close range, including dumping a pitch into a bunker on the ninth, after he had executed a soaring, 290-yard 5-wood from the fairway that sailed over the green and under a tree. Even the good shots turned out badly.

Jeff Shain:

At times, Woods was more than a minute behind playing partners Martin Kaymer and Matt Kuchar and the caddies in walking from the tee to their second shots. Following his tee shot at the par-3 eighth hole, he watched the ball’s flight from a “flamingo” stance – his left foot lifted completely off the ground.

Robert Lusetich:

Why he even showed up at The Players - a tournament he doesn’t have much love for played on a course he dislikes - remains a mystery.

Maybe he felt he needed to repay tour commissioner Tim Finchem for allowing him to use the Sawgrass clubhouse as the venue for last year’s televised apology for the wake of his scandal.

Or maybe he just felt he needed to get in some practice before next month’s US Open at Congressional Country Club.

Or maybe he was just trying to do the right thing and show up at the tour’s marquee event.

Whatever the motivation, it was clearly a mistake.

Woods wasn’t ready to play this tournament, in any sense.

Michael Bamberger:

I don't doubt that his left knee and Achilles' tendon were hurting, or that his left calf cramped up on him. But I also think Tiger Woods is about as physically tough as anybody who has ever played golf, and that if he liked the course and cared about the event and had striped his opening tee shot with a 3-wood instead of hitting a pull-hook, he would still be playing.

He was at the Players for only one reason: he needed, to use one of his words, reps. He needed more tournaments before the U.S. Open.

Bob Harig:

He did not practice again after the Masters until Monday; he played nine-hole practice rounds here Tuesday and Wednesday.

"This morning, felt fine during warm-up and then as I played, it progressively got worse. ... The treatment's been good. It's been getting better. It just wasn't enough."

Woods said his doctors told him it was OK to play.

"The more rest I get, the better it would be, obviously," he said. "Obviously, it's a big event. I wanted to come back for it and play, and unfortunately I wasn't able to finish."

The Florida Times-Union posts a photo gallery of Woods' post round activities, that included a mandatory visit to the fitness trailer to clear his WD.

Another Quiet Team Tiger Week: Foley Slams Bubba, Media

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Brian Keogh did the dirty work in transcribing Tiger teacher Sean Foley's Dublin radio interview in which he stood up for his man.

Denying that he was angered by what Watson said, Foley added: “I wouldn’t say angry. I would just say, bud, you won three times the last 10 months, I am really pleased for you. You have worked hard and I think it is a great thing that you are playing so well. But why do you feel the need that you have to get the attention? What’s the use in making that comment?

“Let the guy do what he’s doing and you do what you’re doing and it will be fine. There is absolutely zero need for him to make that comment. But you know, Bubba loves the camera anyway so, I mean, whatever.”

And on the media...

"The fall from grace and how the media has treated him and how it has all went (sic). The guy’s name alone has brought like $600 million to charity.

"So they only paint one side of the picture. They keep taking about his swing and talking about his swing but on the weekend at Augusta he hit 31 of 36 greens and 24 of 28 fairways so, he is definitely headed in the right direction and when he starts putting a little bit better he is the greatest player ever. You can’t hold him back. I don’t think it matters who coaches him, as soon as he gets used to their style, he is Tiger Woods.

Steve Elling puts the Bubba comments into context and also shares Bubba's response to Tiger's flunkies.

For context, his Woods comments last week were the result of a query about Sean O'Hair and Foley splitting. Watson has never used a swing coach.

"I just told him [his management] that, look, you know me. I'm good friends with you," Watson said. "I've been a supporter of you the whole time I've been a pro and have known you. So I'm here for you, but I didn't do anything wrong.

"So yeah, the camp says I'm okay, but I haven't talked to the boss yet."
Woods was not doing cartwheels about the comments when he arrived at the Players Championship on Tuesday, and not just because he has a sore knee.

Of course this is all a minor annoyance for Tiger when you read what Ron Sirak says about this week's appearance:

This time around at the Players we are not wondering if Tiger and Elin Nordegren will divorce -- they have. This time around we are not wondering if Woods and swing coach Hank Haney will split -- they have. This time around we are not wondering whether the turmoil in Woods' private life would disrupt his professional career -- it did.
 
This time around the questions are these. When will the swing changes Woods is working on with new coach Sean Foley kick in? How healthy is the left knee that has been operated on four times and the left Achilles he said was hurting him when he withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago?

Tiger To Bubba: "We'll talk."

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Tiger's post-practice scrum included this:

Q. I know you and Bubba are friends. I was curious about your reaction to what he said last week about you going in the wrong direction.

TIGER WOODS: That was interesting.

Q. He said this morning that you guys haven't had a chance to talk.
TIGER WOODS: Not yet.

Q. Do you have an issue with it?
TIGER WOODS: We'll talk.

Q. Have you ever told him he needed a teacher?
TIGER WOODS: To each his own.

Wei explains the backstory to this earthshattering feud.

Jeff Rude sums up Tiger's Tuesday presser in which he suggests he's here for the reps pre-Congressional and not much else.

Asked about his game and lack of preparation, Woods said, “It is what it is. The whole idea is that I peak four times a year. I’m trying to get ready for Congressional (U.S. Open next month), and I need some playing time.”

Gene Wojciechowski says to not expect a great performance from Tiger this week.

So in review, Tiger's knee and Achilles are better, but not 100 percent. He has barely picked up a club in the past 4½ weeks. He's taking anti-inflammatories. And, by his own admission, his putting is in the dumper and his short game isn't much better.

Plus, Woods and The Players Championship aren't always on speaking terms. He hasn't won at TPC Sawgrass since 2001 and has only one top-10 finish since 2002. Last year, he had to withdraw in the final round because of a neck injury.

Yet the Vegas smart guys have Woods as the betting favorite this week. They're begging you to wager on him.