ESPN Golf Blog

Posted by Jason Sobel

PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- My initial reaction when I greeted Tiger Woods in advance of our interview on Tuesday at Trump National Golf Club was that despite four months on the mend with a torn ACL and multiple leg fractures, he still looks unmistakably, unequivocally identical to the guy last seen hobbling and wincing his way to a U.S. Open title in June.

Scratch that. He looks better.

In fact, if I didn't know otherwise, I wouldn't have had any idea that Woods is still rehabilitating from the aforementioned injuries and wasn't primed and ready to play his usual brand of championship-caliber golf later in the afternoon. For the pessimists who believed that the 14-time major winner wouldn't return to his previous physical form so quickly, I can safely report he owns no discernable beer belly, doesn't lack for upper-body strength and, most importantly, isn't walking with any sign of a limp or other visible issue.

And that includes the knee itself. Wearing knee-length cargo shorts with his familiar black cap/red shirt ensemble, Woods offered a full-view glimpse of the offending area and, quite honestly, I found myself questioning exactly which knee was surgically repaired in the first place. Turns out, it was his left, but only after standing three feet away and staring for about 10 seconds could I recognize a slight scar from the operation.

I asked Woods if he still feels any pain in either the knee or the leg.

"Uh-uh. No pain," he countered. I asked him how confident he feels in ordinary, everyday activities and his one-word answer said it all.

"Very," he claimed -- and no, he didn't flinch.

As if to prove his point, later in the morning, while walking off the first green during part of the "Gillette Play a Champion with Dad" promotion, Woods encountered a slick, dewy, grass-covered hill, topped with a sign that read: "CAUTION: SLIPPERY." Rather than finding an alternate route or at least heeding the warning and taking it easy, Woods simply sidestepped the sign and kept right on going down the hill.

We can do a lot worse than letting this example serve as a metaphor for Woods' recovery so far. The lesson being, don't expect a setback to slow him down from the final destination.

Of course, they don't hand out green jackets to guys for having small scars and walking down hills. Woods intimated that he has not taken a full golf swing since the 91st and final hole at Torrey Pines -- and doesn't expect to anytime soon.

"Next year," he said when asked for a date that will happen. "Whenever my surgeons say. You have to let the ligament heal. It has to get more taut. I don't want to stretch it out. I don't want to have it go back to where it was. So I have to keep it taut, which means no rotation, everything in a straight plane. ... I feel good. I can do everything, except for rotation right now. I'm not allowed to rotate yet."

The ability to rotate is paramount to a successful golf swing -- something Woods knows as well as anyone. Some have suggested that the man who annually ranks in the top 10 in driving distance on the PGA Tour will need to dial back his swing in the future, leaving himself a less violent lash at the ball upon impact. It's an intriguing notion and one which may come to pass, though Woods has never been averse to adjusting his swing.

"I've been trying to make swing changes for years," he said with a laugh. "You're always making swing changes. It is what it is. That's golf. You're always tinkering."

Translation: He doesn't know what the swing will look like upon his return just yet, but don't expect him to turn into a peashooter like Fred Funk or Corey Pavin anytime soon. No, Woods will no doubt still hang with the big boys.

Speaking of hanging with the big boys and winning green jackets, clear your calendar for April 9, 2009. Though Woods is unsure how much, if any, tournament golf he will play before that date, expect to see him on the first tee at Augusta National in search of his fifth Masters title.

Woods maintains that he is "very confident" in that possibility, even though there is no timetable for his return.

"If I have six months off from surgery, that puts me into January, and another four months, that puts me at pretty much 10 months," he said. "That's a long time. I figure I can come back after 10 months. Athletes have come back and played football in as little time as four or five months after ACL [injuries], but generally it's between six-to-nine months and they're able to come back and compete and play. And if they can do it at that level, I hope I can do it in golf."

One of the more interesting things Woods told me is that he doesn't expect the knee ligament to be 100 percent healthy for another two years. But don't let that fool you into believing he won't continue to compete at an optimum level until then. He maintains that he feels better than at any point in the last two years and, well, let's face it: If the guy can win the U.S. Open on one good leg, he can win anytime, anyplace.

Jason Sobel covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com.