Not sure if anyone has noticed, but this hasn't exactly been the best six-month period of Tiger Woods' life.
(Hint: Anytime sportswriters around the country have the words "highly publicized sex scandal" as a save key on their laptops and it's in reference to you, that's not such a good thing.)
Over the years, we've often seen Woods emotional -- from those patented fist pumps when winning tournaments to outward displays of anger when hitting a poor shot. We've seen him in mourning, when his father passed away in 2006. We've seen him stoic, those competitive fires often leaving him with tunnel vision on the course. And we've seen him vulnerable because of that -- let me hit the F5 key again -- highly publicized sex scandal.
On Sunday, though, we witnessed something new from Woods. The guy who hit his second shot on the seventh hole in the final round of the Players Championship, then withdrew -- the one who was whisked from the course in a cart and later emerged from the fitness trailer, with shirt untucked and sunglasses on -- appeared for the first time to be ... scared.
That's not an adjective that often describes professional athletes -- especially the most dominant ones -- but it was an apt characterization of Woods, who was concerned about the severity of a neck injury which had been his cause for withdrawal.
Instead, for one of the very few times in this recent sixth-month period, Tiger received some good news.
An MRI revealed an inflamed facet joint, for which the prescription is rest, massage and anti-inflammatory medication.
"I want to thank everyone for their caring and concern," Woods said via his website. "I now need to take care of this condition and will return to playing golf when I'm physically able."
This means his fears for the worst have been alleviated, the injury requiring neither surgery nor extended time away from the game. Woods is still uncertain as to when he will tee it up next, but it isn't inconceivable that we will see him in his next expected start at the Memorial Tournament, two weeks in advance of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
The injury will have no long-term effect on his swing and won't be a lengthy hindrance, unlike the knee and Achilles issues that have caused problems in previous seasons.
All of which should be considered good news for a guy who hasn't received much lately -- on or off the golf course.
Jason Sobel is a golf writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com.
