Tiger Woods’ Body Is Yelling at Him, He’s Not Listening

There are times when I simply wonder: “Who the hell does Tiger Woods listen to for advice anymore?”

Apparently, nobody.

Or, the new cadre of yes-men, who replaced the old cadre, are also too afraid to upset the Tiger Money Train to give him honest, decent counsel.

Like, specifically, who in the hell thinks it was a good idea to even PLAY this week at Doral, following the WD due to back spasms at Honda the week before?

It’s your BACK, dummy. Not a tweaked wrist, or even a knee that can be iced down after a unusually difficult round. When your back goes, you could be in the weeds for a year or longer. Ask your buddy Freddie. Or maybe he has been telling you the virtues of pacing yourself, but you just won’t listen.

I don’t get it.

You want to be ready and prime for the Masters. Sure. Good. But you know that course like the back of your hand. Playing in a few events in March will certainly help sharpen your game, but very little will translate from the bermuda flatlands of Florida to the pine-strewn bentgrass hills of Augusta.

Then I saw the photo-op with The Donald and his family. And it clicked. Ahhh, I get it. You don’t do those kind of PR dog and pony shows just to be an ambassador to the game. Hell, you don’t even play the par-3 contest at the Masters for free.

So you got paid by The Donald to help kick off the new Trump-i-fied Doral this week, and raked in some nice appearance money on the side. Good for you.

But is THAT why you didn’t do the smart thing and let that back settle the F down for a week? And if you walked off the course last week with back spasms with no regrets, why not do it again this week?

Not like you really needed the $76,000+ for that leaking-oil finish in prize money, did ya?

The Donald paid you at LEAST that much for cutting a ribbon, yes?

There are easy stones for the Tiger haters to pick up and hurl at him for convenient WDs, or even skepticism that he’s in as much pain as he makes sure to show on his face. I haven’t had back spasms, so maybe I shouldn’t even go there, but answer me this: how is it possible he can grimace while standing over a putt, but then RIP a drive 330 yards down the middle on the next hole?

It’s not like he’s got the Michelle Wie table-top putting stance.

So far this year, Tiger missed the 54 hole cut at his home course Torrey Pines (no back spasms), was a non-factor in Dubai, then pulled out at the Honda, and now this head-scratcher on Sunday.

Right now he’s got one month exactly to get it together. He’s going to play Bay Hill, and that’s it. Ultimately, it’s his body, and his call on how much, if at all to play. But I just wonder if the guy is learning from his past injury mistakes.