Tiger Woods: 'I haven't felt this good in years'

Tiger Woods is feeling great.

The 41-year-old updated his condition on his blog Thursday, and it's very encouraging news:

It has been just over a month since I underwent fusion surgery on my back, and it is hard to express how much better I feel. It was instant nerve relief. I haven’t felt this good in years.

I could no longer live with the pain I had. We tried every possible non-surgical route and nothing worked. I had good days and bad days, but the pain was usually there, and I couldn’t do much. Even lying down hurt. I had nerve pain with anything I did and was at the end of my rope. The process leading up to my decision to have surgery was exhaustive. I consulted with a specialist, and after weighing my options, that’s when I decided to go to Texas to have surgery.

Woods added that he hated to miss the Masters, that he did "everything" possible to play at Augusta, but nerve pain after his swing made it impossible for him to continue.

While there's no timeline for Woods' return, he wrote that his "long-term prognosis is positive." He also left no doubt as to what he wants his future to hold:

"But, I want to say unequivocally, I want to play professional golf again," Woods wrote.

One last thing: Tiger's taking the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.