So what did I learn from Tiger Woods’ comeback to competitive golf?
First off, I learned how excited his fan base is judging from all the tweets and postings on Facebook. His supporters were quite excited about seeing him play again and then reacting to how he played.
I also learned just how hard the talking heads at the Golf Channel would work at falling over each other to praise the man.
So what should a reasonable golf fan take away from this performance? Let’s use a little perspective in this exercise.
Woods tied for 9th in the 18 person field and had solid rounds on day one, two and four. Day three was a blip on the radar it seems. It was a no-cut field so the pressure was next to nothing when compared to a regular tour event. It was held on a course he knows intimately and a course which has flat greens as well as not much protection against the best players in the world.
There were some top 20 players missing who could have put more pressure on Woods to score better than he did but that’s how it worked out.
Now he did show flashes of brilliance with a massive swing speed, ball speed while posting birdies and eagles. Once again though we have to temper this with a jolt of reality. It was four rounds of golf in warm weather.
If Woods can do the same thing over the next four months on a somewhat regular basis then we have something to stand up and take notice of.
His work over those four days already had one major golf publication asking about Ryder Cup status with Woods. That is like mom putting the cookies in the oven and you asking ten seconds later if they’re done. Patience people!
It’s this over-the-top hype Woods has to avoid drinking in the kool-aid and believe he can compete with the best and win, right away.
He can’t and he won’t in my opinion. Winning a major is never easy and the players he’s up against now all seem to have the game to make it even tougher.
There is no question Tiger makes golf more exciting for fans and even the players to some extent but his fear-factor from the past does not have the same razor edge now. Of course his health will play a major role in any comeback assessment and time is certainly not on his side in that respect.
He’s 41 and if continues to swing from the heels then it’s likely a matter of time before something breaks.
In the meantime, fans of golf can enjoy watching Tiger perform but expectations need to be lower in the case of his fan base and more importantly, Tiger Woods.
Good luck!
