Tiger’s Skull Mask Doesn’t Make The Trip To Beaver Creek

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As telegraphed in his mysterious statement, Tiger Woods spent more time with loved ones instead of working on his game Thursday. That entailed flying to Beaver Creek, Colorado to support girlfriend Lindsey Vonn on the slopes.

The good news? No videographers bumped into his teeth, keeping their record of contact spotless for 2015. But this meant no need for the dreaded skull mask he wore in Italy to hide the felled fang.

A Daily Mail story reports on Tiger's appearance, various rumors and images.

On a more serious note, thanks to readers who sent in Dave Merrill and Douglas Lavanture's four graphs posted for Bloomberg suggesting Tiger's chances of future success are looking more and more bleak (at least statistically).

And while most publications are taking Woods at his word that he's taking a break until this game is ready, golf.com's Eamon Lynch sees this as a leave of absence. Quite possibly a permanent one.

A decade ago, Jack Nicklaus birdied the last hole of his career at the British Open in St. Andrews, a sentimental moment that obscured the fact that Nicklaus had notched only two top 10s in majors in the previous 18 years. But at least Jack signed off with a birdie on golf’s greatest stage. Ben Hogan hobbled off the course after a front nine 44 in the 1971 Houston Open. “Don’t ever get old, boys,” he told his playing partners as he faded away.

If the leave of absence that Tiger Woods announced on Wednesday represents the end -- we are past being able to shade it as merely the beginning of a distant end -- then the indignities that golf has foisted upon him of late have been especially harsh.

Steiny: Tiger Wants "To Play Right Now" & "Chomping At The Bit"

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You almost have to feel sorry for agent Mark Steinberg and Tiger's team as they watch the drama unfold and undoubtedly wake up wondering what is next. Almost.

Talking to GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard, see if you can read this part without at letting out a chuckle.

As to when Woods, who has played just nine events in the last year and a half, may return, Steinberg wouldn’t speculate, saying only that Woods plans to start working on his game on Monday in south Florida.

“He wants to play right now, to be honest with you,” Steinberg said. “He’s chomping at the bit. Honestly, he competes to compete at the absolute highest level. Clearly these last two events weren’t up to that. When that swing gets grooved he’ll be ready to go.”

Let's ignore the obvious: that playing golf is sheer misery for Tiger right now, and just stick to the practical.

If Woods wants to play "right now," the Northern Trust Open is still available as an option.

And when he gets that swing grooved? He still has that wedge game. The putter isn't thrilling either, but he did make some nice 8-footers at Torrey Pines at least.

Steinberg also told ESPN.com's Bob Harig about the relief the Woods camp felt when the physios inspected the patient "over the weekend" and found the glute deactivation was not related to the sacrum popping issues of last year. Oh yeah, you'd forgotten his sacrum popped and had to be put back into place.

Steinberg said there was "relief'' in the Woods camp when it was revealed that the latest back trouble was not related to surgery he had in March of last year. "He got treatment immediately and over the weekend when he got home, and it alleviated the discomfort quite a bit,'' said Steinberg, who also added Woods has been able to do some light chipping and putting.

Woods left open the possibility that he would play the Honda Classic in two weeks, but that would appear a bit premature. Steinberg suggested Woods would get back to work in earnest next week, which means he'd have five days to find his game before entering? Seems unlikely.

Roundup: Glutes, More Glutes And Nothing But The Glutes!

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Ron Kapriske talks to Golf Digest fitness advisor Ralph Simpson about deactivating your glutes, as Tiger asserted happened to him Thursday at Torrey Pines.

He says gluteal deactivation can happen, however, Tiger would have looked pretty ridiculous if actual shutting down occurred.

"Even if a person could play golf with their gluteal muscles partially or completely deactivated, you'd usually notice huge compensations in their golf swing," says Simpson, a certified physical therapist who worked on the PGA Tour for several years. "Their hands and arms might do more of the work to compensate for a lack of core strength, or there might be a sway or slide with the body. It would look very awkward for a pro."

Dr. Ara Suppiah explained to Gary Williams the problems Tiger is having with his back and did believe fatigue might be an issue, while offering a few theories. He also addresses the use of the jargon in question.

ESPN.com's Bob Harig talked to former Tiger instructor Hank Haney, who is questioning Tiger's desire and also his obsession with speed.

"All I've heard about is speed," said Haney, referring to Woods' comments that his speed -- and hence a good bit of power -- is back. "And yet all his stats are bad. He was 186th [on the PGA Tour] in greens, 160th in scrambling, 184th from 50 to 125 yards, 169th in three-putt avoidance. What does that have to do with speed?

"That's not your problem, you can't find your ball. You can't chip it on a green from 5 yards. And I thought this guy was going to fix his back."

That would be Chris Como, Woods' new swing consultant, who was brought on board due to his background in biomechanics and the ability to help Woods produce a swing that does not put pressure on his back.

If this isn't enough analysis, Morning Drive figures to have some pretty lively discussions this Sunday...

Breed, Blackmar, Chamblee, Diaz and Williams to Examine State of Tiger Woods’ Game in Roundtable Discussion on Sunday’s Morning Drive
 
ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 6, 2015 – A roundtable of experts will discuss the current state of Tiger Woods’ injuries, examine his golf swing and short game struggles, analyze the current mental aspect of his game and debate his future in a special Sunday segment on Morning Drive (10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET) on Golf Channel.

The panel discussion, moderated by Morning Drive host Gary Williams, will include The Golf Fix host and 2012 PGA of America Teacher of the Year Michael Breed, Golf Channel analysts Phil Blackmar and Brandel Chamblee and Golf World Editor-In-Chief Jaime Diaz, who has followed Woods’ entire career.

Woods withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday – his third withdrawal in his past nine tournaments – citing back pain.