Tiger Woods puts 3 in the water; return uncertain
BETHESDA, Md. — Tiger Woods said he was getting closer, getting better, that his golf game was coming along.
"I'm still trying to get stronger. I'm trying to get more pliable," he said Monday at Congressional Country Club for Quicken Loans National media day. "I'm hitting the ball better. Everything about my game is coming around. Now it's just a matter of being consistent with it."
After fielding questions on everything from his health, to his relationship with world No. 1 Jason Day, to his return to competitive golf, Woods then took to the tee box to hit three shots from 102 yards as part of a promotional stunt for a charitable effort from his tournament's title sponsor.
It didn't go well.
Woods hit three shots from the up tee on the 10th hole at the host of the 2011 U.S. Open. All of them went in the guarding water hazard – the first two on the fly, with the last hitting the bank before rolling back down into the drink.
It seemed like Woods was intent on hitting just one ball. However, after that went in the hazard, Woods seemed to hit a second out of pride. When that disappeared in the water, Woods said, "That's enough for me." But then he hit a third.
Woods' words minutes before simply didn't match what he showed, and the display certainly didn't jibe with his message of "progressing nicely" in a video he shared of him hitting a single 9-iron into a simulator in late February.
Perhaps, then, it shouldn't be surprising that Woods said he is uncertain of when he'll return to golf.
"That's the overriding question I keep hearing. 'When are you coming back?' When are you playing?' I hear it all the time," Woods said. "And, if I knew, I'd tell you. It'd be fun to know."
That doesn't sound like Woods has illusions of returning anytime soon – not for the Memorial Tournament, the U.S. Open or for his tournament the next week. In fact, Woods' future is so in the air, he suggested he could come back in weeks or "a year from now," meaning that a comeback could start in 2017.
"People have written me off; I'm not fertilizer," Woods added.
Perhaps, but three swings on a quiet Monday showed that he's got a lot of growing to do before he can play on the PGA Tour again.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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