Natpharm
Well... I guess we'll find out soon enough. I felt the same way not all that long ago, but I think enough has happened over the past several years to perhaps motivate him to change the perception that it's always been about winning. That's a convenient MO when you're competitive and contending in most of the tournaments (including majors) but not-so-convenient when the realization hits you that you're on the 16th hole on the back-nine of your career.
I've always maintained that he has little desire to compete on the senior circuit, and I don't think that's changed. But Woods has always been a control freak... controlling the small drip of information being fed to the media, controlling when he plays, controlling when he discloses when and where he's playing, controlling the status of his various injury statuses, controlling when he wants to sit down for an interview with a reporter. I don't think that has changed either. So it just stands to reason that despite however competitive he genuinely believes he still is or can be, he also desperately wants to go out on his own terms.
I don't think he wants to be remembered as the guy who crashed the Escalade into the fire hydrant after his wife read some text messages. He wants to be remembered as the guy who won 14 majors, and despite injuries and a personal life scandal - didn't quit... who made every attempt to come back and play golf at a competitive level, but realized that his body can no longer tolerate what is expected of him to remain competitive with the younger generation of golfers who he can no longer beat.
I think this is essentially his exit strategy. Be it ceremonial by definition or whether one prefers to deem it his genuine competitive nature kicking in and saying "let's give this one more run" - he's all but pretty much finished. So he can go out on his own terms, saying he tried but no longer has the physical stamina to continue competing, or he can continue playing this out for the next 4-5 years and not control the narratives being written about him.
I think he's wanting to compete obviously, but I also think he realizes that he's probably finished as a competitive player.
Unless he wins sometime within the next calendar year, I think he calls it quits after 2017. And as such - this is basically his farewell tour.