He made the Cut

For the first time in more than six months Tuesday, Tiger Woods showed up at a press tent.

And hit a monster drive.

“The strength has come back better than ever,” he said.

Better than ever? A golfer wins 14 major titles, undergoes reconstructive knee surgery, and now his strength is better than ever?

He then hit a perfect approach.

“It’s better than it’s been in over a decade,” he said.

Over a decade? A golfer wins 65 tournament titles, yet it turns out that he’s been hurting for over a decade?

He finished with a precision putt.

“I don’t want to be the same . . . I want to become better,” he said. “I want to become better than I was, and this leg will help me in that process.”

You’re kidding me, right? I drove an hour in the rain to witness a golfer finally facing his mortality, yet, once again, waiting for me was a Tiger?

I didn’t want to believe it. It would have been a better story. It would have been a real story.

I attended Woods’ news conference before his Chevron World Challenge at the Sherwood Country Club to view, for the first time, greatness at rest, a masterpiece’s mortality, the strong-willed local kid finally brought down by last summer’s season-ending surgery.

He started swinging seriously only a couple of weeks ago. He might not play a competitive tournament until the Masters. He is humbled and scared and . . . nah.

“Long-term, this is the greatest thing that could have happened,” he said.

Same old Tiger. Only, in, like, better shape.

“I remember in 2002 when they went in there in December to clean it out and they found out I only had about 20% of my [knee ligament] left. . . . The fact that I made it this far was amazing without it rupturing,” he said. “Things that I was dealing with, I don’t feel that anymore.”

Let’s see, hmm, since 2002, he has won six majors and 31 tournaments overall.

With 20% of his knee? So what happens now?

“It feels stronger, more stable. It’s not sliding all over the place; my bones aren’t moving,” he said of the knee, adding, “Just in the last couple of weeks to be able to hit fuller shots . . . it was like, hey, this is what people actually play with, this is kind of nice.”

Kind of nice. That’s just wonderful. Here’s guessing he kind of breaks Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major victories in about three minutes.

The surgery went so great, apparently doctors even injected him with a sense of humor.

When asked about his rehabilitation, he said he has been hitting full shots only recently.

“The ball is not going very far, so I kind of know how you guys feel,” he told reporters, laughing. “You know, that flag out there at 100 yards, boy, that’s a long way.”

When asked about the chilly, wet weather that has draped itself across the start of his Chevron World Challenge, he smiled again.

“We wish it could have been better than this,” he said. “But hey, I’m not playing.”

He even used a joke to eventually deflect a question about his caddie Steve Williams’ recent criticism of Phil Mickelson.

“I communicated with Phil, and we have discussed it,” he said. “It’s something that none of us really wanted to have happen, but it’s over and done with and we put it to bed.”

I asked if Williams -- a prickly sort who has scuffled with both fans and cameras -- will still be carrying his bag.

“He’ll be on the bag -- I just don’t know what’s going to be in the bag,” Woods said to more laughs.

The last time we saw Woods, there was no laughter, only amazement that summoned tears. He had just finished hobbling around Torrey Pines for five days in constant pain, limping his way to a playoff victory in a U.S. Open that many feel was his greatest achievement.

We had no idea how he could do it. Turns out, neither does he. He said he can’t even watch a replay of the tournament, as some of those shots pain him still.

“I’m still trying to figure that out,” he said of his achievement, adding, “There was no kneecap left, and the swelling was big enough where you really can’t see it.”

He talked about undergoing rehabilitation each night of the tournament, only to wake up and make the injury worse.

“Hours of treatment every night, late into the night, just working it, trying to get that swelling out so I could basically cause it again tomorrow,” he said. “That wasn’t a whole lot of fun, but it had to be done.”

He also talked about the pain of the ensuing surgery.

“It was brutal,” he said. “It’s hard to describe to you the pain, then trying to mobilize it, trying to move it. . . . You had no muscle in there, no leg, and it hurt like hell.”

Some golfers of Woods’ stature would fear for their endorsements and rush back to the course. Typically, Woods, 32, said he would retire first.

“If I had to play this week, my game is not ready for public consumption, I couldn’t display it right now, I wouldn’t want to,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want you guys to see me out there playing that poorly. I’m just not ready yet.”

We can wait. No, actually we can’t.

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bill.plaschke@latimes.com

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BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX

Major player

The breakdown of Tiger Woods’ 14 major championships. Jack Nicklaus holds the record with 18 major titles:

*--* Year Championship Si 54 Holes Winni Margin Runner te ng (s) Up Score 1997 Masters Au 9-shot lead -18 12 strokes Tom gu (70-6 Kite st 6-65- a 69--2 Na 70) ti on al 1999 PGA Championship Me Tied for lead -11 1 stroke Sergio di (70-6 Garcia na 7-68- h 72--2 C. 77) C. 2000 U.S. Open Pe 10-shot lead -12 15 strokes Ernie bb (65-6 Els, le 9-71- M.A. Be 67--2 Jimene ac 72) z h 2000 British Open St 6-shot lead -19 8 strokes Thomas . (67-6 Bjorn, An 6-67- Ernie dr 69--2 Els ew 69) s 2000 PGA Championship Va 1-shot lead -18 Playoff Bob May lh (66-6 al 7-70- la 67--2 G. 70) C. 2001 Masters Au 1-shot lead -16 2 strokes David gu (70-6 Duval st 6-68- a 68--2 Na 72) ti on al 2002 Masters Au Tied for lead -12 3 strokes Retief gu (70-6 Goosen st 9-66- a 71--2 Na 76) ti on al 2002 U.S. Open Be 4-shot lead -3 3 strokes Phil th (67-6 Mickel pa 8-70- son ge 72--2 Bl 77) ac k 2005 Masters Au 3-shot lead -12 Playoff Chris gu (74-6 DiMarc st 6-65- o a 71--2 Na 76) ti on al 2005 British Open St 2-shot lead -14 5 strokes Colin . (66-6 Montgo An 7-71- merie dr 70--2 ew 74) s 2006 British Open Ro 1-shot lead -18 2 strokes Chris ya (67-6 DiMarc l 5-71- o Li 67--2 ve 70) rp oo l 2006 PGA Championship Me Tied for lead -18 5 strokes Shaun di (69-6 Michee na 8-65- l h 68--2 C. 70) C. 2007 PGA Championship So 3-shot lead -8 2 strokes Woody ut (71-6 Austin he 3-69- rn 69--2 Hi 72) ll s C. C. 2008 U.S. Open To 1-shot lead -1 Playoff Rocco rr (72-6 Mediat ey 8-70- e Pi 73--2 ne 83) s G. C. *--*

Sources: Los Angeles Times, golfworld.com and tigerwoods.com

Los Angeles Times