It's More Than Okay To Not Overreact To The New Video Of Tiger Woods Standing On A Driving Range Hitting Chip Shots

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Tiger Woods joined Rickie Fowler and Will Zalatoris on the driving range at Liberty National in New Jersey on Tuesday morning as part of a teaching clinic for one of his foundation's annual events. It marked the first time Woods was seen on the range with a club in his hand since undergoing surgery on his ankle in April.

Woods simply stood there and hit an occasional chip shot, but never took a full swing. The 47-year-old answered a few questions, but Fowler and Zalatoris were the only two hitting golf shots.

Nevertheless, the simple fact that Woods was standing on a driving range with a wedge in his hand was enough to cause some in the golf world to collectively lose their minds.

I very firmly stand in the camp that Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer to ever live. I also think he's the most dominant athlete of my nearly 31 years on Earth. So, I get people showing a certain level of excitement at seeing Woods back on a driving range and also well aware of how this media game works by blowing things out of proportion and making something out of nothing for engagement.

I'm also not too big of an idiot to realize the ForePlay video above is tongue-in-cheek and, again, part of playing along in the social media game.

But, for some reason, this particular overreaction with Tiger stands out. It's certainly not the first time the golf world has overreacted to Woods simply existing as a human, and won't be the last.

Based on some of the reactions though, you would think Woods was diagnosed to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and hitting one-handed wedge shots at a charity outing is one of the greatest accomplishments of modern medicine.

Maybe it's the fact that we've seen this movie multiple times now of Woods going under the knife and presumably building up to his next, and maybe even last, competitive start. Perhaps it's me unfortunately getting older.

Most likely it's just me not really caring about a golfer - even the greatest of all time - simply standing on a driving range not doing anything.

I guess I'm here to say that if your heart rate didn't jump when you saw Tiger Woods back on the range at a charity event it doesn't make you bad person, golf fan, or Tiger hater.

Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.