Quick 9: Taking a bit of perspective around Tiger's return

1. Tiger's vulnerability

— -- A good bit of "soul searching and honest reflection'' went into Tiger Woods' decision to skip last week's Safeway Open with the rare admission that his game was "vulnerable,'' causing the golf world to shutter.

Now after more than a week has passed to allow all that to absorb, perhaps the good to come out of all of this is that Woods has finally allowed himself to lower his own expectations with a hint to the masses that they should follow.

This comeback was never going to be easy, regardless of the time, place or state of Woods' game. Two back procedures in consecutive months followed by no meaningful golf for six more? More than a year's worth of professional golf events played without him? The lost practice time? The toll that it takes mentally?

All of that adds up to a healthy dose of perspective as it relates to how Woods will look when he does come back, which he now hopes will be the Hero World Challenge in December. Nobody, himself included, can possibly expect to see any semblance of the Tiger who ruled golf for so long, and that apparently is sinking in with him.

Of course, that won't stop us from wanting to see every bit of it, with comments and conjecture and analysis coming from every single angle. It is the downside to being Tiger, and perhaps the reason he is reluctant to return: He knows he is being judged by his past.

But if Woods can lower his expectations -- still a big "if' -- then others should as well. Numerous observers, including players who have undergone back surgery, have commented that returning to any level of competitive golf, let alone the highest, is going to take time.

So Woods' first tournament back, whether it be the Hero World Challenge or some event in 2017, should not be viewed as some sort of referendum on his game and his future. It's only one tournament, and it might just be the beginning of what is a slow, frustrating process.

2. Reinventing Tiger

If you happened to catch any of the video that made the rounds last week from a clinic Woods conducted near Pebble Beach, it wasn't hard to notice a golf swing that looked serviceable but one that was far from full speed. You can make too much out of such a thing -- he was giving a clinic, after all -- but it does make you wonder if Woods can play the game differently than the way we are used to seeing.

In other words, can he dial it back? Can he better manage his game and not be worried about distance? Can he be effective in that manner while perhaps lessening the physical toll?

When Woods was seemingly at his lowest point during last year's World Challenge -- unclear when a comeback might take place, if at all -- he addressed how he might reshape his game.

"If I don't hit it as far, hopefully hit more fairways,'' Woods said. "Understand how to play more iron shots into the correct spots. I've learned a few more shots around the greens in the past couple years. Implement those in my short game. Putting ... some of the things I was working on at the end of (2015) were starting to click. It's putting all those things together. The game is so fluid. That's the thing I need to be aware of going forward.''

In essence, Woods was talking about reinventing himself. Whether he really believes that, or will seek to follow that path, is purely conjecture. It could be that is part of his game plan now as he attempts to return.

3. The Tiger clinic

Here is how Woods looked on Oct. 11 during a clinic he gave for his foundation at Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

4. The Parnevik interview

Jesper Parnevik's quotes in which he said Woods was "flushing'' it when he saw him earlier this year at The Medalist in South Florida appear in the November issue of Golf Digest. The magazine created a bit of a stir two weeks ago when its website excerpted those quotes in which Parnevik said Woods was "flushing everything'' and that regarding his comeback "something tells me this might be spectacular."

It heightened the chatter as Woods sought to come back, but Parnevik said in an interview last week that he had seen Woods play in May and that the interview had taken place months ago. "I thought his swing was great,'' Parnevik said. "With all the injuries he had been through, his back, he looked really good. But I never saw him all summer. I wish I had more to update.''

The entire interview with Parnevik is now posted.

5. The Phil pairing

Much has been made of Woods being grouped with Phil Mickelson for the first two rounds of the Safeway Open. Such an early-round pairing on the PGA Tour of the longtime rivals had been rare, and some saw it as another reason for Woods to withdraw: He didn't need to be shown up by Mickelson.

None other than Mickelson himself squashed that theory. Last week during the Safeway Open, Mickelson acknowledged that he and Woods had spoken about the grouping during the Ryder Cup, and that Tiger was fully on board. He noted that the PGA Tour came to both parties and asked if it would be OK.

And it should be pointed out that there would have been no shame in Woods shooting a higher scorer than Mickelson, as tough as it might have been for him to take: It occurred numerous times when they played together over the years.

6. Long time coming

The World Golf Hall of Fame announced its latest inductees, who will officially become part of the Class of 2017, and the big question is what took so long for Ian Woosnam? The Welshman will join Davis Love III, Lorena Ochoa, Meg Mallon and writer/broadcaster Henry Longhurst.

Woosnam was part of Europe's "Big Five'' along with Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer and Sandy Lyle. All contributed to the European Ryder Cup resurgence. All won major championships. And all are in the Hall of Fame -- with Woosnam finally joining the others. He had 59 worldwide wins, including 29 on the European Tour, and won the 1991 Masters.

7. The PGA Tour's Asia Swing

A new event in South Korea next fall will bring to three the number of events being staged in Asia as part of the official PGA Tour schedule. This week's CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and next week's WGC-HSBC Champions in China have been officially part of the schedule for the past few years, and now a third option is set to come on board.

The Associated Press reported that the PGA Tour will announce the details next week and it is in keeping with the tour's desire to enter the Asian market. What will be interesting to see is how the event fits into the already diverse fall schedule that sees the tour this year go from Napa, California, to Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai (with an opposite event in Mississippi) to Las Vegas, to Cancun, Mexico, and then to Sea Island, Georgia.

8. This seems kind of cruel

David Howell hit a pretty good shot during the second round of the British Masters last week on the par-3 13th, one that appeared headed toward the hole.

9. Quote of the Week

Leave it to Phil Mickelson to sum things up when asked last week if he expected to be a player on the 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup team, when he will be 48 years old.

"It's been 22 years since there have been 10 Americans that have been able to beat me [to make the team] so I don't know why it would stop now,'' he said. "I plan on being on the team in France and absolutely one of my goals is to play in France because I've never been on a winning Ryder Cup team over in Europe. I want to win a Ryder Cup over there and I want to be part of that as a player.''