What 'Things' Did Tiger Take?

. . . and does it make a difference?

Tiger Woods played through pain in his knee (just eight weeks removed from surgery) to make a spectacular comeback yesterday in the final round of the U.S. Open and force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate (going on right this very second).

Woods told reporters that the treatment plan for his aching knee included "a lot of icing, trying to get the swelling out and just try to make sure I have a range of motion. . . . Did it get better? No, but I took some things to relieve that, so I feel a bit better now."

"Took some things" could mean anything. Maybe Woods took a bubble bath. Maybe some Tylenol or Ibuprofen. Or perhaps Woods's sketchy trainer injected him with some super-illegal, extra-strength 'Roid Rage Golf Game-Improving Formula, reader hmaulden seems to suggest:

hmaulden: [Tiger] took some things to relieve [knee pain]? Took WHAT? Think ANYONE could ask Tiger what he took? Over the counter? Prescription? Legal? Can we get some REAL reporting? Whatever Tiger took allowed him to finish and win. Tiger would have been toast otherwise. Would the drug be legal under new tour testing criteria?

AOL Fanhouse's Will Brinson is on a similar wavelength (minus the capital-letter panic), noting that it's "really odd" for Woods to be taking painkillers:

The reason it is odd is that, well, to be frank, golf is much harder on pain killers. Your senses are numb and muscles relaxed, which is good for the amateur who swings to hard. But for an athlete like Tiger who relies on pinpoint timing to perform, pain medicine just does not seem like the most logical option. It could also explain, depending on what he took and when he took it, the opening round double bogey fiasco of his.

Reader a_DC_denizen isn't interested in jumping to any damning conclusions:

a_DC_denizen: hmaulden - regardless of the pain killer that Tiger took for his knee, which would be obviously a legally prescribed med, factoring in all variables and using some common sense, would not have aided his play or given him an unfair competitive edge. it was for his knee. not his game. although one is dependent on the other, the medication is not directly related to his game, nor performance enhancing.

What do you think?

By Lindsay Applebaum |  June 16, 2008; 12:48 PM ET  | Category:  Golf
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