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.''

Dawson: Tiger Puts In Dubai Time After Back Spasms

I'm not sure how to read this Rex Hoggard story for GolfChannel.com from Dubai. The obvious takeaway is that Tiger, feeling bad about taking a huge appearance fee, put in a little sponsor time while in discomfort. Wise and good move for sure.

But if he was having more back spasms and chose to sit with Peter Dawson for a Q&A (painful!), does this mean the injury was not serious? 

Either way, Hoggard talks to Chief Inspector of Dubai Golf, former R&A Chief Peter Dawson, who reports on Tiger's many efforts to promote Dubai golf, including post-WD time with sponsors.

“When he withdrew, he and [manager] Mark Steinberg discussed it and thought, 'What a shame we haven’t done everything the tournament was hoping for,' and they offered to do it, which was nice,” Dawson said.

The Q&A, which was emceed by Dawson, lasted about 20 minutes for an estimated 60 sponsors and officials.

“He came in clearly in a little bit of pain, but sat down and soon had a smile on his face and we had a few jokes,” Dawson said. “He responded well, cracked a few jokes, he’s a pro.”