And I’ll refute you, point-by-point.
1. While hitting that many balls is demanding at first, your body quickly adjusts (the soreness does go away). Tiger was built to play golf since he was a little kid, and he’s not exactly an old man at 33. I say this as someone who regularly hits hundreds of balls a day in the summer (and would hit more, if I had more money).
2. Significant is relative. Wikipedia lists him at 6’1” and 185. That’s probably not more than 40 pounds above what he weighed when he turned pro. If that’s even close to accurate, I don’t see what the big deal is here. I’m 5’9” and weigh about 180. 10 years ago (a few years after Tiger turned pro) I weighed 140 pounds when I graduated from MCRD Parris Island. Most of what I’ve put on since then has been muscle, and I don’t do any drugs. You’re right in that he didn’t have back problems, he changed his swing with Butch Harmon so that he wouldn’t have back problems in the future, as his reckless swing style back then would have led to. If Tiger is using supplements that help with recovery, as you claim, instead of just ones for strength, then half the tour is. Vijay is known as one of the hardest working guys on tour, possibly harder than Tiger.
3. I’m sorry, Tiger Woods looks nothing like Barry Bonds. Have you ever seen Tiger up close in person? I have, he was less than 10 feet away from me at his tournament here in DC a few years ago. He’s not all that impressive in person, he just looks like a regular guy you’d see who works out a lot in the gym. I’ve also seen multiple NFL players up close, and while some of them were imposing, many of them just looked like Tiger Woods - average weight lifters. 6’1” and 185 pounds does not impress me. I also doubt you train as hard as Tiger.
4. It’s not just the drug testing. It’s the fact that drug purchases can be tracked. The BALCO scandal is a perfect example of this, how many guys were outed in that because their names were on lists, not because they tested positive? The chance of Tiger or one of his trainers getting caught is too high to make it beneficial.
5. Actually, I do know what to look for, as I’m quite a gym rat and have known people who used gear. Tiger does not show the telltale signs of using, like gynecomastia. If you could see him in person like I have, and have spent a lot of time in gyms like I have, you wouldn’t be nearly as impressed with his size. Large, thick, rounded muscles aren’t terribly difficult to get when you lift weights properly and eat properly. Just because he was skinny (like I was when I was younger) doesn’t mean his bones won’t support the weight. In fact, it’s the skinny ones that usually have an easier time. We can eat a lot of junk food that fat people can’t and still put on muscle.
1. I have hit 1000 balls a day, many, many times. It’s not easy, it becomes more like an aerobic exercise when you’re pounding balls out there obsessively working on your swing. It made me LEANER, it seems to make Tiger bigger.
2. Tiger didn’t slowly and gradually put all that mass on, that guy was never going to get that body naturally, I’m sorry, believe what you want.
3. I saw Tiger at Bethpage, he’s a thickly built drug user, lol. I also shot 69 from the back tees there 4 years ago after sleeping in the car. You can doubt all you want about my training. I’ve trained as hard as just about any human can and now have the rotten knees to show for it.
4. Balco is the TIP OF THE ICEBERG, if it wasn’t for Balco we would still have these liars lying. Tiger hasn’t gotten caught - YET. Just like his phony family man image is coming out now. A lot of the other guys that got outed wasn’t really fair either, they were told they were being tested confidentially with no impunity from Major League Baseball. Most of the NFL hasn’t gotten caught yet either. I have an old paperback from a hippie who played in the NFL (I think he’s still there as a consultant with the league, at least was a few years ago, I can’t remember his name) it’s an old book written in the 70’s he talked about how his anti-war activism got him into trouble. That was the main gist of the book, but he also talked about how in the 60’s big college programs openly promoted and had their players using steroids. It wasn’t a big deal, just a matter of fact statement from the “old days”.
5. I’ve been in gyms and involved in athletics for most of my life, I also know plenty of guys who DENY using when it’s obvious. I also know guys who sold drugs to plenty of pro athletes in many sports that haven’t been outed, and likely never will. I know kids in rinky-dink high schools who will likely never sniff a Division 2 school where 40-50% of the Football team are using drugs. As for your final statement that skinnier guys have an easier time adding mass by converting junk food into muscle, well, LOL. Tiger’s body is not natural, and eventually I’ll be vindicated, as long as his drug damage control team is as strong as his infidelity control team.