February 24, 2016

A day after a report claimed Tiger Woods has faced a setback in his recovery from a pair of fall back surgeries, there is conflicting information about the status of his health.

Golf World and Golf Channel reporter Tim Rosaforte said Monday that he had spoked with 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and Woods' Stanford teammate and friend Notah Begay III, with both saying Woods was improving, not regressing.

"He's making progress," said Love, who has appointed Woods as an assistant captain for the upcoming biennial matches in Minnesota.

"He is starting to move like he's human again," said Begay, who is also a NBC and Golf Channel analyst.

Those words seem to contradict a report from golf journalist Robert Lusetich, who said on Twitter that Woods is having difficulty with his back, is unable to sit and is transported in a car by lying in a fully reclined passenger seat. An anonymous Twitter account called Secret Tour Pro first made claims like Lusetich's, but the account lacks credibility because of the lack of a name associated with the account.

Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, vehemently denied Woods has faced a setback.

"The tweets that appeared this weekend about Tiger's health are ridiculous and absolutely false,'' Steinberg said in a statement Monday to ESPN. "It's reprehensible that every few months someone makes something up and it's treated like a real story. Tiger continues to work on his rehabilitation and we will have an accurate update at the appropriate time.''

The 14-time major champion is trying to recover from a pair of back surgeries in the fall. In September, Woods underwent a second microdiscectomy surgery on his back after tracing pain felt in his hip at the Wyndham Championship in August to the same area in his back that was operated on in March 2014. A month later, Woods had a second, follow-up procedure related to the first surgery.

In December, Woods said he has no timetable for his return.