By his own admission, “the fire still burns” in Tiger Woods. And he’s talking about his unwavering competitive passion there not those searing back spasms that flare up like the nostrils of Prometheus.
For the first time since July’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, Tiger is back in the public eye. But just how is that bothersome back?
Well, a video clip of him hirpling to the media centre for a press conference ahead of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas made him look about as comfortable as someone gingerly walking over a carpet of ball bearings.
Woods is not playing in the event that he hosts this week. In fact, a return to the cut-and-thrust of tournament golf seems a long, long way off.
Another operation on that dodgy dorsal in September certainly eased the excruciating discomfort he was in.
But it’s now back to square one for the 15-time major winner as the wearisome cycle of pain, surgery, rehabilitation, a tentative return to action, more pain and a retreat into convalescence again birls on and on.
With a Woods update these days, it’s a case of rinse and repeat.
“I'm not physically ready yet to compete at this level,” sighed Woods.
This time last year, Woods had upped the ante and bullishly stated that he was hoping to play once a month on the tour. That didn’t happen, of course. He managed four major championship outings and missed the cut in three of them.
The expectations have been tempered again. What Woods wants to do and what his body will allow him to do are two wildly opposing factions.
“I didn't think my back was going to go like it did this year,” added the former world No 1. “So, whether my commitment going forward is once a month, yeah, I could say that all over again, but I truly don't know.
“It just progressively kept getting worse the more I played and as the year went on. I'm just trying to rehab and get stronger and give myself the best chance I can going into next year.
"I feel like I’m getting stronger, I’m getting more pliable, but I’ve got a long way to go to be able to compete against these guys.”
While there’s a $64 million question surrounding Woods’ return to frontline action, there’s a few dollars more to mull over in the debate about players being paid in the Ryder Cup.
Recent reports have suggested that representatives of the US team could get around $400,000 each at next year’s transatlantic tussle with Europe in New York.
Woods would like to see them get over 10-times that amount. And give it to charity.
“Going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation back in 1999,” said the 48-year-old.
“We didn’t want to get paid. We wanted to give more money to charity (but) the media turned it round against us and said we wanted to get paid.
“The Ryder Cup makes so much money. Why can’t we allocate it to various charities?
“I hope they (USA players) get $5 million each and donate it all to different charities. I think that’s great. What’s wrong with that?”
Another issue for Woods to delve into concerns the on-going negotiations involving the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
It’s a protracted process that’s as painful as one of those nerve impingements in Tiger's lumbar spine.
“I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened quicker than this,” said Woods, who is a powerful figure on the PGA Tour’s policy board.
“But we wish we would have had something more concrete and further along than we are right now.
“I think something will get done. In what form or shape, I don’t know yet.”
At this pre-tournament address, Woods was sat next to the chairman of Hero Motocorp, Dr Pawan Munjal. Even Indian billionaire’s are getting scunnered by the merger talks.
“Very simply put, the game is not benefitting,” said Munjal. “What has to happen is everyone gets back together and the game moves on, the players move on, the sponsors move on.
"There is confusion for the sponsors as well right now, what to do, where to go, how to look at the future. The future is uncertain, which is not a good thing.”
That just about sums up the current plight of Woods too.
