Steiny: Tiger Wants "To Play Right Now" & "Chomping At The Bit"

You almost have to feel sorry for agent Mark Steinberg and Tiger's team as they watch the drama unfold and undoubtedly wake up wondering what is next. Almost.

Talking to GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard, see if you can read this part without at letting out a chuckle.

As to when Woods, who has played just nine events in the last year and a half, may return, Steinberg wouldn’t speculate, saying only that Woods plans to start working on his game on Monday in south Florida.

“He wants to play right now, to be honest with you,” Steinberg said. “He’s chomping at the bit. Honestly, he competes to compete at the absolute highest level. Clearly these last two events weren’t up to that. When that swing gets grooved he’ll be ready to go.”

Let's ignore the obvious: that playing golf is sheer misery for Tiger right now, and just stick to the practical.

If Woods wants to play "right now," the Northern Trust Open is still available as an option.

And when he gets that swing grooved? He still has that wedge game. The putter isn't thrilling either, but he did make some nice 8-footers at Torrey Pines at least.

Steinberg also told ESPN.com's Bob Harig about the relief the Woods camp felt when the physios inspected the patient "over the weekend" and found the glute deactivation was not related to the sacrum popping issues of last year. Oh yeah, you'd forgotten his sacrum popped and had to be put back into place.

Steinberg said there was "relief'' in the Woods camp when it was revealed that the latest back trouble was not related to surgery he had in March of last year. "He got treatment immediately and over the weekend when he got home, and it alleviated the discomfort quite a bit,'' said Steinberg, who also added Woods has been able to do some light chipping and putting.

Woods left open the possibility that he would play the Honda Classic in two weeks, but that would appear a bit premature. Steinberg suggested Woods would get back to work in earnest next week, which means he'd have five days to find his game before entering? Seems unlikely.