The Tiger Woods I'd Like to See

...But Never Will.

He'd call Sean Foley and tell him thanks for the little out-to-in practice swing; it's done wonders.

Then he'd have a press conference I'd title, Hello World Part Deux. TW would say that from here on in, he alone will be in charge of his swing.

Instead of a list of Nicklaus' major record on the wall, he'd start worshiping the ethos of Hogan and try to dig his game out of the earth.

By himself...

Does anyone really think he couldn't do it if he had the guts to try it? He knows what hurts his knee, or his achilles heel, or whatever injuries have come from his various hobbies from playing tough-guy with the Navy SEALs or a bunch of Perkins waitresses can inflict.

His swing would evolve into a creation of his own; a swing he would know better than anyone on the planet. It may not be swing that conforms to our aesthetic standards and maybe not even to his. Hank Haney might be interviewed about the top of Woods' swing position being 2 degrees off and the Konica Minolta BizHub SwingVision may show issues even Peter Kostis is sharp enough to identify.

But, the swing would belong to Tiger Woods and he's played enough great golf to finally have the pink slip for it.

And, slowly, his golfing brain would awaken at long last. I don't know if his recovery would be complete enough for him to get to 19, but I know it would be a hell of a good time to watch.

The PR-born image of Tiger Woods is gone forever. Anybody who still holds him up as a role model is naive or just plain stupid.

But, the Tiger Woods I'd like to see would have the power to re-invent his image as one of discovered self-reliance, come success or failure.

Too bad it will never happen.