The good news for Tiger Woods fans was that his second-round struggles at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational were less debilitating than his second-round struggles at the British Open.
PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem has no impartiality when it comes to Tiger Woods.
The bad news is that Woods no longer be able to find the consistency he needs to prevent a poor round to help him win tournaments.
Woods fell 10 strokes off the pace of Sergio Garcia after Woods' 1-over 71 in the second round at Bridgestone.
Afterward, the most popular man in golf lamented his play the entire round.
"I didn't hit the ball well. I didn't putt well. I didn't do anything well," Woods said after a round of three birdies and four bogeys, according to USA TODAY Sports. "The only thing I did well was I fought hard. Grinded hard. Unfortunately, it wasn't very good today."
Tiger Woods' obsession with working out caused damage to his body
The 1-over 71 during his second round wasn't has drastic a drop from his first-round performance of 2-under 68 as it was during the British Open two weeks ago when Woods followed an encouraging 3-under 69 with a 5-over 77.
Bridgestone is just Woods' third tournament since undergoing surgery to repair a pinched never in his back on March 31.
After his uncharacteristically poor performance at Hoylake where Woods finished 69th out of the 72 golfers to play the weekend during the major, Woods talked about his body breaking down and his new approach to let each ailment heal - rather than push through the pain.
Woods said his previous stubbornness led to injuries in his knees, back and Achilles' heels because he kept working out and running when he was hurt.
"I was winning, but I didn't realize how much damage I was doing to my body," Woods said. "Now I have to pick my spots when I can and can't push. Now I've got to listen to my therapist and get treatment. When I was younger, I didn't need it. So my knee ached a little bit, 'So what? I'll just run more miles and it will magically go away, just get the endorphins going.' That's no longer the case. Listening to my body, that's one thing I have learned stubbornly over the years."
But at what price? Woods may not be able to spend double-digit hours on the course perfecting shots or figuring out aspects of his game that need improving because his body isn't up to the task anymore.
And with all the pressure Woods is putting on himself to catch Jack Nicklaus, how can he possibly compete with the likes of Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott or Jordan Spieth, who still can punish their bodies to the extreme?
The likely effect will be more inconsistency from Woods because he isn't able to practice as much or keep his body in the shape it needs to be for him to grind for four days to a victory.
Do you think Tiger Woods' inconsistency is due to lack of recovery time from back surgery or because he can't spend as much time in the gym or on the course because of his fragile body? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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