Tiger Woods, left, watches United States' Lindsey Vonn, right, during the women's giant slalom competition at the alpine skiing world championships on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015, in Beaver Creek, Colo.How long that lasts is anyone's guess.
In Tiger's words on his website: "My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf. Like I've said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I'm ready, I'll be back."
Most believe Tiger will return very soon -- he hopes to be back before the end of the month. Heck, two weeks? That's not a break; that's a skiing trip. (Side note: Woods was spotted Thursday at an international skiing event where girlfriend Lindsey Vonn was participating, and one wise-cracker on social media said Woods was there to see athletes going downhill faster than he is.)
So the break seems as much social as it does serviceable, but the latest turn in Tiger's latest turnover is puzzling. It also leaves golf fans everywhere wondering about his future.
To look at what he said, Tiger might never come back if you take him at the letter of his message.
This is not to say he won't play again, but do any of us with any level of confidence think we will ever see Tiger storm the fairway again?
His body is failing. His impenetrable confidence has been pierced. His unflappable short game has been flipped upside down.
Do not think for a second this is about Tiger being Tiger again. That was more than a decade ago, and his prime has passed, and that has nothing to do with the injuries, the off-the-course dramas and the total loss of the intimidation factor.
Tiger will never be Tiger again because we don't know if anyone ever will be early 2000s Tiger. It was historic and overwhelming and made golf must-watch TV.
He was an even-money bet against the field at major golf tournaments, and truly we don't know many folks who backed the field with their hard-earned greenbacks.
But are we to a point where Tiger may not even be a contender again? In the nine tournaments he has played since early in the 2014 season, he has missed the cut or WD-ed in seven of them. He's fallen more than gas prices in the last year, dropping into the 60s after being the top-ranked player on the planet not that long ago.
That's not a contender, let alone a guy with designs on contending again at major championships.
Missing the weekend in seven of your last nine events is the resume of a Monday qualifier rather than a Hall of Famer.
Tiger will be back on a course in the next few weeks. There's no timetable, though, on when Tiger will be back contending on a course.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @jgreesontfp.