If you were still true believing that Tiger was chipping away at his return and just felt he wasn't quite ready to tee it up in the 2016 Masters, then Friday's late news of a Masters no-start would fit a narrative that the Big Cat was oh so close to playing.
The newsroom at TigerWoods.com must have been buzzing when the call rolled in late after Woods called in to say he was just oh so close. But not really.
From their report:
"After assessing the present condition of my back, and consulting with my medical team, I've decided it's prudent to miss this year's Masters.
"I've been hitting balls and training daily, but I'm not physically ready. I've said all along that this time I need to be cautious and do what's best for my long-term health and career. Unfortunately, playing Augusta next week wouldn't be the right decision. I'm absolutely making progress, and I'm really happy with how far I've come, but I still have no timetable to return to competitive golf."
Hitting balls and training daily, but no timetable for a return? As Bob Harig notes in his take on the news, the latter line is the real takeaway here. But why wait until the Friday night before to share that?
Steve DiMeglio treated the news with the proper respect for USA Today and without information beyond what we learn on TigerWoods.com, that's the correct approach.
However, we know the circumstantial evidence suggests Tiger drew out this inevitable decision for reasons only he knows.
Perhaps resisting the urge to tell the folks at Augusta National he can't play keeps him motivated to train and hit balls, even when he has to know that showing up cold at a major after two surgeries is a terrible idea.
Perhaps he just enjoys the idea that everyone is talking about him, wondering when he'll return? But as I noted in the Forward Press this week, this news is now only of interest to casual fans. Serious golf viewers have moved on.
Perhaps he needs to project the illusion of being close to a return to keep his corporate partners happy? Though "no timetable for return" comments won't get their hopes up.
Perhaps he just watched too much of The West Wing. As Luke Kerr-Dineen noted at For The Win, this was the best one he's ever dropped.
Or maybe, he just waited until late Friday to make the golf writers and TigerWoods.com team work late into a spring Friday night in his ongoing effort to avenge the humiliating coverage that appeared on almost no golf website?
Either way, we will move along and regain our focus on what figures to be an absolutely splendid Masters.
