So, Tiger Woods is being forced to take a month off from the PGA Tour as he rehabs from knee surgery. I know that Woods’ workout routine is considered cutting edge, particularly for a professional golfer, but what on earth is he running seven miles per workout with a bad knee? Don’t his trainers know that long-distance running is not a particularly healthy form of exercise?

Long-distance running is a fine form of recreation for folks who enjoy it. But as a method of exercise, I am hard-pressed to think of one that is more physically damaging. Woods would be smart to re-think his workout to delete long-distance running and concentrate on short sprints for the aerobic part of his workout.

The knee operation will prevent Woods from defending his title at the Wachovia Championship in two weeks or competing in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass a week after that.

By the way, Geoff Shackelford (see this Daniel Wexler post, too) is leading a discussion over at his blog on whether the design changes at Augusta National — which have clearly prompted players to play more defensively and less aggressively during the Masters Tournament — have undermined the excitement of the tournament for spectators. Geoff passes along the following interesting stat from Brett Avery’s Golf World stat package: