Tiger Woods Says Oblique Feels 'Way Better,' Explains Why He Suffered Injury

After playing part of the pro-am tournament Wednesday, Tiger Woods feels much better than he did a week ago when an oblique strain forced him to withdraw from the Northern Trust.

"Way, way better," Woods said after his practice round, per Bob Harig of ESPN. "It was nice to take those days off and let it calm down and get a bunch of treatment on it. It feels so much better. I played the front nine today and played quite well. It was nice to see. Took the back nine off, chipped and putted quite a bit. It feels a lot better than it did on Friday."

The superstar is preparing for the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club and got some work in, but he avoided straining himself with a full round before the tournament event begins.

Staying healthy has been a challenge for Woods throughout the past few years because of back injuries, and he has only appeared in two tournaments since the Open two months ago. He only played one round last week—shooting 75—before his oblique injury caused him to withdraw.

As he explained Wednesday, the latest injury is because of adjustments he has made to handle his back problems.

"The forces have got to go somewhere, and unfortunately, when I make any kind of tweaks and changes to my swing, it's like a new body part is aching," he said. "Unfortunately I can't play around the back like I used to, and unfortunately things flare up."

He will have to push through any injuries this week if he wants to advance to the Tour Championship next week. He enters the BMW Championship ranked 38th in the FedEx Cup standings, but only 30 players advance to the final week of the playoffs.