Tiger’s Skull Mask Doesn’t Make The Trip To Beaver Creek

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As telegraphed in his mysterious statement, Tiger Woods spent more time with loved ones instead of working on his game Thursday. That entailed flying to Beaver Creek, Colorado to support girlfriend Lindsey Vonn on the slopes.

The good news? No videographers bumped into his teeth, keeping their record of contact spotless for 2015. But this meant no need for the dreaded skull mask he wore in Italy to hide the felled fang.

A Daily Mail story reports on Tiger's appearance, various rumors and images.

On a more serious note, thanks to readers who sent in Dave Merrill and Douglas Lavanture's four graphs posted for Bloomberg suggesting Tiger's chances of future success are looking more and more bleak (at least statistically).

And while most publications are taking Woods at his word that he's taking a break until this game is ready, golf.com's Eamon Lynch sees this as a leave of absence. Quite possibly a permanent one.

A decade ago, Jack Nicklaus birdied the last hole of his career at the British Open in St. Andrews, a sentimental moment that obscured the fact that Nicklaus had notched only two top 10s in majors in the previous 18 years. But at least Jack signed off with a birdie on golf’s greatest stage. Ben Hogan hobbled off the course after a front nine 44 in the 1971 Houston Open. “Don’t ever get old, boys,” he told his playing partners as he faded away.

If the leave of absence that Tiger Woods announced on Wednesday represents the end -- we are past being able to shade it as merely the beginning of a distant end -- then the indignities that golf has foisted upon him of late have been especially harsh.