Healing Tiger sounds ready to roar

Of all people, Butch Harmon ought to know better.

Tiger Woods' former coach, speaking in China on Wednesday, said he thinks Woods made a mistake playing in the U.S. Open in June with a shredded knee.

Half a world away, and perhaps half out of his mind, Harmon wondered aloud if Woods might have damaged permanently not just his knee but his chances of breaking Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors.

Almost on cue, Woods then held his State of the Tiger Union on Wednesday afternoon in California and might have been speaking to Harmon directly when he was asked about whether he would be the same as he was before the knee reconstruction.

"I'm not worried because I don't want to be the same,'' Tiger said with complete certainty. "I want to be better, and this leg will help me in that process.''

And with that the $600 million man sent a chill through a PGA Tour that went into deep freeze without him.

He let it be known in his first news conference since the surgery that he intends to be better, stronger, faster.

And bionic.

OK, he didn't actually mention bionic or faster, but would you doubt him if he chose both?

He's Tiger Woods, folks, so don't tug on Superman's cape.

Believe him when he says his legs are stronger, he's in better physical condition, and his repaired left knee will allow him to play superior golf because he can alter his swing, something the knee wouldn't previously allow.

"I played well at times, but not the way I wanted,'' he said Wednesday, adding that as far back as 2002 he had only 20 percent of his ACL remaining. "I'm looking forward to having stability I haven't had for years.

"As I start to move through my bag and get to the more lengthy clubs, it feels great. There's nothing sliding in there, no bones moving around.''

While he says he's a bit ahead of schedule and expects to play in the Masters, Woods hasn't nailed down a date for his return and is following doctors' orders to the letter - which is another new experience.

"I feel a lot better,'' he said. "I'm lifting (weights) better. My cardio is up because I can do things I couldn't do before. My physical fitness is much better than it was in June.''

Yeah, and all he did in June was win the Open on one leg through gritted teeth that some believed was acting for the sake of sympathy and drama.

"I don't know how I did it,'' said Woods, who admitted that he doesn't watch a lot of Torrey Pines highlights because he remembers the pain quite vividly. "I don't want to relive certain shots.

"I was going to play, period, but as far as doubt, yes, I wondered if I should really be doing this.

"The nights were bad (at the Open). There was no kneecap left, and the swelling took hours to get down. That's all we did at night, trying to get the swelling out.

"It was not a whole lot of fun, and I didn't start feeling good until three months after the surgery.

"Now, it feels great. Long term, the surgery's the best thing that ever happened. The knee's better than it's been in a decade. I can't wait to see what I'm like out there.''

In that regard, and perhaps for the first time, Tiger Woods is just like all the rest of us.

brozner@dailyherald.com