Mike Celizic

Tiger Woods has always played like a man possessed because that’s what he is. But from the way he celebrated when he won Bay Hill Sunday, you get the feeling that the post-surgery Tiger is even more driven than the pre-surgery version.

The new Tiger is still on the same mission he has been on since he was knee high to a six iron. But now, he’s on borrowed time. Fixing a knee isn’t like fixing a car’s suspension. With a car, you throw in new shocks and springs and you’re as good as new. With a knee, you take things out, reattach ligaments, build it back up and go back into the world knowing that if you keep putting impossible stress on it, it’s probably a matter of time before it breaks down again.

Woods hurt his knee because of the incredible torque he demands of it when he swings a golf club. Most people would change their swings after such an injury to keep from doing the same damage again. But not Woods. His powerful swing is what got him this far, and he’s not giving it up. If it ends up destroying the joint again, so be it. All he has to do is reach his goals before it does.

Call it courage. Call it single-minded pursuit of a goal. Call it foolishness. I’m sure he doesn’t care what you or I think of the way he pursues his job or the wisdom of refusing to change his swing. All he cares about is the five more majors he needs to get to 19 for his career and one more than the total won by Jack Nicklaus.

You can call Woods the greatest golfer who ever lived, and you won’t get many arguments. But he knows that he’s not the best until he beats the best. That’s Nicklaus and his total of 18 major titles. Right now, the knee’s fine, but it might not still be that way in another four or five years — or even three years. Woods is 33, still young for a professional golfer. But he’s not thinking, “I’ve got plenty of time to catch Jack.” He’s thinking, “I’ve got to do it now.”

That has to be part of the reason why, when the winning putt at Bay Hill dove into the cup, Woods reacted as if he’d just won all five majors he needs to pass Nicklaus. Tiger pumped a fist, raised a leg, screamed in unbridled joy, hugged his caddy, Steve Williams, more ardently than most of us embrace our wives. It’s fair to say Woods has never celebrated a non-major win with such abandon.

When you think of him playing on borrowed time, it’s easy to understand why, and it goes way beyond simply getting back in the victory column more than nine months after being sidelined by surgery. The win validated his belief that his game is ready to win just in time for the Masters, which begins next week. With the win at Bay Hill, he became the official favorite in Augusta.

Woods wants another green jacket. And then he wants another U.S. Open trophy, another Claret Jug and another PGA title. It is, of course, impossible for any ordinary great golfer to win all four in one year. But you know Woods thinks he can do it. And you also suspect he knows he has to win as many as he can as quickly as he can. Just get to 19.

We already know that he cares more for the record than for his health. He showed that at Torrey Pines last June when he went out on a blown knee and a lower leg with two stress fractures and won the tournament. It took him 91 holes and five rounds to dispatch Rocco Mediate, and every one had to be accompanied by constant pain.

Video   Tiger's back Mar. 29: In his third appearance since his knee surgery, Tiger Woods comes from five behind to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks break down the victory. NBC Sports

If you’re at all competitive, you’ve tried to play a sport with an injury that you knew was going to send searing jolts of pain through you anytime you performed a move necessary to the game. And you know how much force of will it takes to fully commit to that move and then absorb the pain. For most of us, it’s virtually impossible not to be affected. We adjust our stride or swing. We back off. We do something to try to avoid the pain. That’s why pain exists. It’s our body’s way of telling us to back off.

That’s what sets great champions apart. Their desire to win overrules their body’s objections. Woods told his knee to go ahead and scream bloody murder if it wanted to, but not to expect him to lay off. And he kept doing it for 91 holes and at least 25 miles of walking over five days.

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He says there’s no pain in the knee now. For the first time in years, he can swing without pain. But because of the way he swings, it's quite possible he’ll damage it again.

So he’s got to win now, before the repaired cartilage starts shredding again, before the rebuilt ligaments start fraying, before he beats himself up so badly he can’t walk without a limp much less swing with unimagined force at a golf ball.

He needs four to tie and five to take the record. A sober analyst would say it will take three years — minimum — to do that. He’s probably planning on doing it in two, with borrowed time to spare.

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