Tiger is Totally, Completely, Unequivocally & Utterly In Contention!

Looking lost even with an army of life and swing consultants never out of his sight, it's been hard to imagine Tiger turning things around, especially after suggesting at The Open he just needed to get on the Trackman to sort some out. But as Steve DiMeglio notes and anyone who has trailed the game long enough realizes, there is no explaining much of anything about golf, especially as it relates to great players finding their games.

Lipping out putts four times on the the front, Tiger still posted a 66 at the Quicken Loans National to trail Ryo Ishikawa through 36 holes.

And earlier this week at the Quicken Loans National, the tournament host said he was close to putting everything together and making the red shirt again mean something on Sunday, that a lucky bounce here or a good break there could be the spark he needs to do a 180 on his dreadful year.

In each instance, eyebrows raised and eyes widened by those within earshot. He became a punchline with his reference to glutes. He was labeled delusional for saying he was in contention at the Masters. He was thought by some to be holding on to a last grasp of hope when referencing his numbers and spin rates. And he was thought to be out of his mind this week when he said he was close to being a contender again.

Jason Sobel at ESPN.com says don't get too excited just yet.

Let's not misunderstand this point: Just because Woods opened with rounds of 68-66 at his own Quicken Loans National, that doesn't mean all criticism has been proved to be invalid, nor does it mean that he can stick out his tongue and say "I told you so."

What these rounds have proved, though, is that he's been right all along while preaching about "the process" and insisting that he was never going to undergo monumental immediate improvements.

He birdied three of his last four. The PGA Tour highlights: