Tiger Returns (Again) Roundup: What Now

In an October, 2016 Golf Digest feature that was posted after TigerWoods.com got the big scoop on Tiger's return, Jaime Diaz contemplated the many issues Tiger faces in returning to play, a return Diaz still thought could yield results.

Included is this about the nature of back injuries:

There is much research providing evidence that tension from unresolved repressed emotions—particularly anger and shame—can be an important source of chronic pain. According to work pioneered by Dr. John Sarno, a now-retired professor of rehabilitation medicine at NYU, the body's reaction to deep psychological wounds can be to create physical pain to prevent hidden emotions from becoming conscious.

Sarno calls this Tension Myoneural Syndrome and says that such psychosomatic pain that can't be traced to actual structural changes often occurs in the back.

Afremow, the peak-performance coordinator for the San Francisco Giants, says he often sees variations of the syndrome at work in competitive sports. "Especially with top athletes, pain can be a barometer of their stress level," he says. "Men especially tend to bottle everything up, and this is more true for the highest achievers, who are used to pushing through everything. It can result in constant pain, without any physical sign. The mind-body connection has been underestimated."

Rex Hoggard, after hearing the news, considered the time Tiger has been away and all that has happened. He wrote this for GolfChannel.com:

Things have clearly been moving in the right direction back home on his private practice range in Jupiter, Fla. – by most accounts he’s not spending much time playing in public – but after more than a year on the DL he’s not dismissing the prospect of a wrong turn.

It was a subtle part of Woods’ otherwise positive message on Wednesday.

Ryan Lavner, reporting from Crooked Stick, has the reaction of Tiger's fellow players, ranging from relieved to not having to deal with the "circus" the Tiger will return will bring (McIlroy), to not even knowing about the news (Justin Thomas).

“He brings an aura and an atmosphere that no one else in golf can bring,” McIlroy said.

Added McDowell: “No disrespect to Rory, Jordan (Spieth), Jason (Day) or Dustin (Johnson), because I think we’ve got an unbelievable crop of young talent that are incredible role models for the sport and give the game a real appeal, but no one moves the needle like Tiger Woods. He’s the only one who transcended the sport.”

Brandel Chamblee suggested that Tiger risks injury again if he returns with the same swing, and says Woods has lost six year of his career to swing change adjustments.

“If he comes back and he continues to swing the way he was swinging when he was last playing, I think that he will risk injury,” Chamblee said Wednesday.

“There's a far easier way to swing the golf club, in my opinion, than the way he was swinging the golf club. If he comes back and indeed if he is swinging more upright, he does have a little freer lower body movement, if he does have a move off of the ball, if he does all those things, I think it will be easier on his back.”

Woods has already cost himself six years of his career making swing changes, Chamblee said. “He's cost himself two years changing a golf swing in '98, two years changing a golf swing in 2003, two years changing a golf swing in 2010. That's six years."

As I noted in discussing the news with Lisa Cornwell on Golf Central Wednesday, the reaction seems only positive and the way Tiger rolled out the news was solid on several levels: he prefaced the news just in case and best of all, resolved this before his Ryder Cup assistant captaincy, where questions about his return could have become a distraction.

Olympic Participant Fatigue As A Ryder Cup Issue?

Captain Darren Clarke could be thrilled to read that Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose are trending toward two weeks off prior to the 2016 Ryder Cup, but should they make it to East Lake, fatigue will be an issue for his two most prized Team Europe veterans.

Jim McCabe of Golfweek reports from the BMW Championship on both sides, but the comments from the Europeans stood out.

But just as there is a calm before the storm, for Rose there’s a silver lining to the collapse: A week off that he feels he sorely needs.

“It wouldn’t be the worst thing; I hate to say that,” said Rose, when asked if not qualifying for the Tour Championship (Sept. 22-25) would be beneficial to his mental health.

When Rose crashed over the final nine holes at TPC Boston, it dropped him to 50th in the FedEx Cup standings, which means he has to do something pretty special at this week’s BMW Championship to get into the top 30 and earn a spot into the Tour Championship.

Tape Delay Or Playoff Fatigue? Deutsche Bank Ratings Down 27%

Sports Media Watch analyzes the drop in Deutsche Bank Championship final round ratings and essentially includes that the tape delay final round, prompted by Tropical Storm Hermine, caused the 27% final round drop (1.6 overnight vs. 2.2 in 2015).

Paulsen writes:

There were only 45 minutes of live play during NBC’s 4 1/2 hour window, with the network coming on air at 1:30 PM and Rory McIlroy claiming victory at around 2:15.

With PGA Tour ratings mired in a recent slump, it is likely that ratings would have declined even if the event aired live. Sunday’s telecast was the 11th of the past 13 final round PGA windows to decline from last year, with each of the past seven hitting a multi-year low.

The answer may lie in Sunday's live numbers, which mirrored the decline.

On Sunday, live third round coverage had a 1.5 overnight — down 25% from last year (2.0) and down 17% from 2014 (1.8). It was the sixth straight third round window to decline from last year and the fifth to hit a multi-year low.

And as the window approaches for the PGA Tour to opt out of its network deals with CBS and NBC, the numbers are not coming at an opportune time.

Forward Press: The BMW Scheduling Silliness, European Tour Throwing Fans Into (14th Hole) Fire

In this week's Forward Press I explain why the BMW is starting within hours of the Deutsche Bank Championship ending (Corleone and Tattaglia made a deal) and why it's a particularly horrible idea with the NFL kicking off.

But hey, it's all about the Dyes, Crooked Stick and John Daly 1991 memories this week, so we have that (and a few fun YouTube contributions).

Also, the European Tour along with sponsor KLM is trying something pretty bold on Thursday

All in the Forward Press at GolfDigest.com.

Kostis: "The USGA and R&A look like ambulance chasers, eager to find fault with you at every turn."

If you can get Golf.com to hold still for a second and stop playing irrelevant videos, this Peter Kostis piece on the current state of golf's rules is worth a read.

Strong words here on how the rules seem to no longer be our friend, but instead, the golfer's enemy:

In addition to updating the "Ball at Rest Moved By Player, Partner, Caddie or Equipment" rule (18-2), which went into effect at the start of this year, the USGA also decreed that you may no longer post scores for handicap purposes if you play by yourself. It's another example of the governing bodies looking over our shoulders, like Big Brother. Apparently, they don't consider golfers to be trustworthy. So we have an issue: Golf is either the pristine, righteous game they proclaim it to be, or it's not—in which case the USGA and R&A look like ambulance chasers, eager to find fault with you at every turn. The latter mentality mocks everything the game is supposed to stand for.