Tiger Woods addressed the state of his life and his game this week with a blog post just before the Presidents Cup. The 2017 assistant captain for the U.S. team said he's been progressing well following the first photo we saw of him chipping a month ago. 

Woods had his fourth back surgery just after the 2017 Masters, and it was a spinal fusion surgery. After that, he was arrested for DUI in May and completed an out-of-state "private intensive program" this summer to address some issues he was having with prescription medication.

Nevertheless, his latest update was encouraging and said it's "nice not to live in pain anymore" regarding the nerve pain his back was causing for the rest of his body.

"I'm starting to hit the ball a little further -- 60-yard shots," Woods said via his website. "I have not taken a full swing since my back fusion surgery last April, but continue to chip and putt every day. The latter is paying off. Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler have been dropping by my house for putting contests. Justin also comes over to practice his chipping. It was fun to celebrate his PGA Championship win with him and Rickie, and we had a blast.

"I have my six-month back X-rays coming up. Once my surgeon takes a look, he'll give me the parameters of what I can do moving forward. I'm working out six days a week, alternating between the treadmill, bike riding, swimming and lifting twice a day. My muscle tone is coming back, but I'm not in golf shape yet. That's going to take time."

This part was especially interesting to me. I didn't know Woods was even able to work out six days a week, much less accomplishing that. His playing days may be behind him -- nobody really knows at this point -- but there's at least a sliver of hope for the future.

"Playing wise, I'm not looking ahead yet because I don't know what kind of swing I'm going to use," added Woods. "I just don't know what my body is going to allow me to do. Until I do, I'm going to listen to my doctors and continue to take it slowly."

There is no timetable for Woods' return, and I don't expect there to be. Anything that involves him being able to swing at all is a positive sign, though. Woods' body has gone through a lot and may never perform at even 50 percent of the level we've seen it perform at in the past. The important part, as Woods noted in his post, is that he's pain-free and excited about what lies ahead personally.