Title: Tiger Woods says he has learned from his injuries; time will tell just how much

Description: Our habits are our stripes; and they are as hard to change as a tiger’s. Right now, Tiger Woods wants to break one of his most central habits, a character trait that’s always run to the core of both his golf glories and his injuries: the desire to push beyond. Beyond what? What have you got? Whatever others find normal, sensible, almost sane, has been Woods’s departure point. Now, he wants to be like us — well, a little bit anyway. Until this very moment, that has always proved impossible for him. Finally, after six years of constant physical pain and limitation, he says he has seen the light: either learn patience, listen to his body and moderate or forget about any more golf glory. Vegas hasn’t posted odds yet, but “pick ’em” should be close. After listening to Woods speak at his own Quicken Loans National, it’s clear he knows the riff and believes it. But once every few minutes, he betrays how brutally hard this habit- and stripe-changing business truly is, as tough for him as for us. With Woods you have to wait a few years, or 10, to find out the real story. Sooner or later the true history comes out, sometimes even from Tiger. Now, from Woods, we get an account of why his body has, from a pro athlete’s perspective, fallen apart since 2008. Speaking at Congressional Country Club, he explained how, at age 38, he hoped to mend himself after back surgery in March, regain his game and correct that double-edged habit of “pushing, harder and harder and harder until stuff breaks.”

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/othersports/tiger-woods-says-he-has-learned-from-his-injuries-time-will-tell-just-how-much/2014/06/24/830d5966-fb92-11e3-8176-f2c941cf35f1_story.html