Agent Refutes Reports: Tiger’s Champions Dinner Entrée Will NOT Be Decided Until After The Appetizers

Agent Mark Steinberg is once again scoffing at reports about his legendary client's 2017 Masters plans just hours after Tiger Woods announced he will not play. Steinberg has denied a story suggesting Woods already has asked for the Augusta National dinner menu instead of embracing defending champion Danny Willett’s main course, expected to be an Southern-inspired take on bubble and squeak.

“I talked to Tiger three days ago and I have no idea who these really close sources are who know what he’s ordering for dinner,” said Steinberg. “We’re not in a position to even talk about the main entrée right now. He has to see how his back holds up after whatever deep fried stuff Willett wheels out for a starter.”

Steinberg said his client always samples the defending champion’s choices no matter how exotic. 

“Even the year Vijay won!” Steinberg said.

An online report said Woods has been spotted at his Woods Jupiter restaurant "relentlessly downing" digestive enzymes before and after meals as a cautionary ploy to prevent extra back strain.

“He looked like he’d had one-too-many of the Tuna Tartare’s the night I saw him,” the source said. “And we all know the slightest bloating could re-injure the back, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he bypasses Willett's entrees and just orders some soup to get through the Champions Dinner.”

Brandel: Tiger's Practicing Diligently, Don't Rule Out Masters

The Golf Channel's pre-Masters teleconference call included this from Brandel Chamblee, writes G.C. Digital fresh from a two-week tour of Myrtle Beach's best courses.

G.C. writes:

“If you can believe anything that you read on social media – I know that his coach has been down there, and they’ve been hitting a lot of golf balls down in Palm Beach. The way I understand it, he’s been practicing quite diligently. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Tiger showed up at Augusta National.”

For his part, Montgomerie said that if Woods does show up, he hopes fans don’t see the 14-time major champ bowing out after “77-78 and going home from there.”

Tiger's Tanned, Rested And A Resounding Maybe On Playing Masters

Maybe it's shaving the goatee or just his overall upbeat glow for someone who has been off the grid, but while appearing on Good Morning America and promoting his 1997 Masters book Tiger Woods looked well. The positive appearance only adds to the mystery surrounding his latest absence due to back spasms.

Yes, he looks older without his hat and signature form-fitting golf shirts. But it's hard not to watch all of this and wonder what genuinely plagues him that he's still not able to go to his office: the golf course. But for his fans Woods offered a glimmer of hope. Steve DiMeglio reports after getting an exclusive sitdown for USA Today.

“I do have a chance,” to play, Woods told USA TODAY Sports in an exclusive interview. “I’m trying everything I possibly can to get to that point. I’m working, I’m working on my game. I just need to get to a point where I feel like I’m good enough, and I’m healthy enough to do it."

In the good news/bad news department, Woods is attending the Champions Dinner but essentially has left open the possibility for no decision on his playing status until the last minute.

Yes, we've seen this movie before and no one wanted to see it a second time.

DiMeglio filed a separate piece on the 1997 Masters book written with Lorne Rubenstein. Reading about this kind of detail sounds great:

Woods, who hopes to play in next month's Masters, explains how he used a persimmon driver to hone his swing the week before the 1997 Masters and made use of Golf Channel’s video library to study Augusta National’s treacherous greens. He tees up his thoughts about the changes made to the course to combat technological advances in the game.

In NYC, Alex Myers talked to the fans who waited a long time in line to get the book signed at Barnes and Noble.

The GMA segment featured a putting contest that made for good TV:

WATCH: @TigerWoods defeats @michaelstrahan in a putting contest...and fires off his signature fist pump! pic.twitter.com/03YPWlQRr4

— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 20, 2017

Tiger's Agent Challenges Report Saying His Client Is "Unlikely" To Play Masters

This would all be humorous if it weren't for Tiger appearing unable to play the Masters, especially on the 20th anniversary of his historic win and when the sport would desperately love to see him return. Yet common sense suggests a Masters appearance is looking grim.

But not in Mark Steinberg's way of thinking.

Golf World's Brian Wacker quotes unnamed sources saying Tiger "seems unlikely" to play given that the 4-time Masters winner is only putting and hasn't been seen hitting golf balls by people in Jupiter.

Woods’ agent did not respond to an email seeking an update on his condition and schedule, but one source close to the situation near Woods' home in Jupiter, Fla., said, “I would be shocked if he plays anytime soon.”

Another source said that he saw Woods recently and he "didn't look good," adding that while he hopes he is back soon, Woods doesn't look close to being ready and that a return at the Masters would be too soon. The source added that all Woods has been able to do of late has been putt.

Golf World's Tim Rosaforte was the recipient of agent Steinberg's rebuttal to the Golf World report (!) but did it via Golf Channel's Nick Menta (!!).

"I have no idea who Mr. Wacker’s really close sources are. I can tell you this, nobody spoke to him (Wacker); so how he could know something that Tiger and I don’t know is comical," Steinberg said. "I talked to Tiger four hours ago on the phone. We’re not in a situation to even talk about playing in the Masters now.

Eh, em...Steiny...psst...it starts less than three weeks from now...

He’s gotten treatments and is progressing and hoping he can do it. There’s not been a decision one way or the other. I couldn’t give you a fair assessment, but to say it’s doubtful is an absolutely inaccurate statement."

It's doubtful.

Sorry! Wish the signs pointed in a more positive direction.

Update on 2017-03-18 16:39 by Geoff

**Tim Rosaforte confirmed on Morning Drive that the chatter around Jupiter--"interclub to interclub, golf gym to golf gym"--suggests Tiger has not been seen playing or practicing. Rosaforte notes this may be misleading since Tiger could be practicing at his home facility.

Rosaforte also notes, "if Tiger was hitting balls you would have heard about it and read about it by now from me, just living down there."

Lorne: "I was provided the opportunity to dig deep into the mind of a golfer who had accomplished amazing things in the game."

Lorne Rubenstein's much-anticipated collaboration with Tiger Woods on the 1997 Masters book was hopefully going to mean many interviews for Lorne to discuss the story and his co-author.

Unfortunately as Rick Young notes at ScoreGolf.com, Rubenstein has made clear this is Tiger's book.

Lorne did, however, write this enjoyable piece for Medium on working with Tiger on the book and it definitely gets you more excited about what is in the pages beyond what we saw in the early Golfweek excerpts.

In the early stages of our discussions we watched video of that Masters. One vivid memory led to another, one story to another. I attended that 1997 Masters and followed Tiger as he shot 40 on the front nine. I watched as he walked from the ninth green to the tenth tee, deep in thought. What had gone wrong? How could he turn things around? Was he worried?

I was interested and even surprised when he said he had put the front nine out of his mind by the time he reached the tenth tee, and that he had already focused his attention on what he needed to do. It wasn’t so much that he needed to correct what had gone wrong. He resolved to find the feeling that had allowed him to shoot 59 the week before at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club when he had played with his friend Mark O’Meara.

This was the sort of insight that helped me appreciate Tiger’s golfing mind. I kept this story in mind as we continued to chat during our talks in a conference room in his office in Jupiter, Florida, and many follow-up conversations over the phone.

No Bay Hill For Tiger, But At Least We Have '97 To Read About!

Tiger tells TigerWoods.com that Bay Hill next week is not option despite his desire to honor the late Arnold Palmer.

As Bob Harig notes for ESPN.com, this makes the Masters all but a no-go. It's the lack of any public appearances that is even more disconcerting.

Woods missed two tournaments he was scheduled to play, the Genesis Open and the Honda Classic, and now is out of an event he dominated for most of his career. Woods has made no public appearances since the Dubai event and did not appear at the Genesis tournament that supports his foundation.

The latest developments would appear to put next month's Masters in serious doubt, although Woods played the tournament two years ago after taking a nine-week break to work on his game.

The first taste of Tiger's upcoming book written in conjunction Lorne Rubenstein has been published in the March issue of Golfweek. Here's a sampling.

Naturally, I couldn't resist enjoying this little reminder of Monty and his mouth.

If I needed any extra motivation for my third round, Colin Montgomerie provided it during his media conference the day before. Monty was in second place, three shots behind me, and so we were going to play together in the last twosome on Saturday, just after two o’clock. At the conference, Monty was asked about our prospects for Saturday, and he spoke his mind, saying that everybody would see in the third round what I was made of, and that experience was a “key factor.” … His comments only strengthened my resolve to play my best golf the rest of the way.

I had a clean card, eleven pars and seven birdies, for 65. That was the kind of golf I had been working toward. Monty and I shook hands on the eighteenth green. His 74 had put him twelve shots behind me, after starting the round three shots behind. He was beaten up but cordial.

Even Jack Doesn't Know What To Think About Tiger At This Point

Golfweek's Jeff Babineau quotes Jack Nicklaus discussing the state of Tiger Woods following the recent WD's and Genesis Open no-show due to back spasms.

This probably about sums up how most feel

Nicklaus doesn’t live very far from him, but he really doesn’t have much of a handle on what his happening with Woods and his health these days.

“That is the biggest puzzle to me that I know,” Nicklaus said Sunday at the Honda Classic. “I just don’t know where he is and where his mind is. I don’t know.

Pat Perez And Tiger Hash Things Out Via Text, Sort Of

Pat Perez went on SiriusXM PGA Tour radio with “Katrek & Maginnes on Tap” to clarify his comments on SiriusXM's Out of Bounds co-hosted by Pat Perez!

If you really have a lot of spare time, Golfweek's Kevin Casey links to the Perez effort to dig himself out of a hole created by the harsh tone of his Tiger assessment.

Perez also talked to GolfDigest.com's Brian Wacker and said he and Tiger texted things out.

“I wasn’t talking about his career, I was talking about this point in time and we don’t know what we’re going to get from him. I’m not the only one thinking this. It’s common sense. Everybody wants to talk about Tiger. It’s like ‘Where’s Waldo?’”

Perez sent a text message to Woods on Thursday expressing that same sentiment to the 14-time major winner, and the two exchanged multiple texts about the comments.

Woods was not pleased, according to Perez, but in essence told him he understood and that Perez is entitled to his opinion.

I've managed to obtain the text exchange exclusively because I look out for my readers! ;)

Here goes:

Monty's Back! Wouldn't Trade His Career For Tiger's And How Technology Deprived Tiger Of Majors

It wasn't all about Monty. In fact, he said some pretty interesting stuff about the de-skilling of elite level golf due to technology, which was once a concern of the governing bodies (they even put it in writing!).

Speaking to golf.com's Michael Bamberger, who wisely just turned on his tape recorder and let Colin Montgomerie talk. After reminding us repeatedly that he predicted Tiger's success at the 1997 Masters--he was villified!--Monty offered this assessment of technology and Woods.

“What might Woods have done had the game never moved off the balata ball and the wooden wood? Many golf fans would say he would have won less. I believe he would have won far more. He has the 14 majors. Without the equipment changes, I believe he’d have well into his 20s now. Because now everybody has clubs where they can do what he could do.

“Two others lost out hugely to technology. Greg Norman was one. He was the best driver of the ball with the wooden club ever. He lost out when drivers went to metal and suddenly we could do what he did. He lost his asset. And the other was Seve. When Ping developed its L-wedge, with box grooves, we could suddenly do what Seve could do with a 52° club. He lost his asset too. Tiger had all that, in spades. And then we were given equipment that allowed us to do what he could do."

But driving distances are steady, so all is well.

The line that is getting all the attention.

“I never won a major. Tiger won 14. But would I trade my career for Tiger’s? No. I started out this game a pretty good golfer and finished in the Hall of Fame. I feel I have overachieved. So how could I say I wish it were better? People will say, `Well, he didn’t win a major.’ And, yes, I would have liked to shut them up by winning one. But that’s my only regret, really. Great that I have won senior majors, which has quieted the odd person.

Odd, indeed.

Tiger Cancels Press Conference Due To On-Going Back Spasms

The Tiger Woods Foundation benefits from the Genesis Open proceeds and his TGR Ventures is running the tournament now.

Woods was scheduled for a Tuesday press conference even after he chose to miss the event due to back spasms. The presser was moved to Wednesday to coincide with appearances on the property related to his Foundation and Woods Jupiter restaurant's satellite location overlooking the 10th hole.

Late Tuesday night, however, the media received this notice:

After receiving daily treatment the last several days on his on-going back spasms, Tiger Woods has again been advised by doctors to limit all activities and will not hold a press conference Wednesday. It will not be rescheduled.

I never quite understood how Woods could appear and answer the inevitable health questions in a way that left anyone feeling good. Still, that his back is keeping him from sitting or popping in on-site takes the latest setback's seriousness to another level.

Update on 2017-02-15 16:28 by Geoff

**Bob Harig talks to agent Mark Steinberg, who says Woods is in California but is limiting his activity to protect his back.

"This is about the Genesis Open, the Tiger Woods Foundation and supporting Hyundai and his foundation. He is doing all he can without having to get up and move around all that much so that he can put himself in the best position to recover.''