Tiger's 2016 Return Roundup: And It's Only Tuesday!

Tiger loathes the golf press, or, what's left of it. Even though the scribblers weren't the ones who scripted the talk show jokes that made him a national joke for a short time, Tiger should ease up the disdain some day and realize he fueled some fantastic writing about the game.

His return has prompted some more stellar coverage, and it's only Tuesday of Hero World Challenge Week.

The GolfChannel.com team has tracked down the one-hit-wonders to Tiger the Rolling Stone. Their stories of playing with and beside the man in key moments of his career is definitely one to save.

Ron Kroichick tracks down Lee Trevino, fellow back sufferer, to discuss what Tiger has to do to protect his back.

“When you injure your back, your body is telling you that you can’t move that way,” Trevino said in a phone interview. “Tiger has to revamp his swing. If he comes back and keeps swinging the way he did, he’ll re-injure it. No question.”

Trevino, like the rest of us, really doesn’t know what to expect when Woods makes his first tournament start in more than 15 months Thursday in the Hero World Challenge. It’s natural to view his comeback with rampant skepticism, given his aborted return at last month’s Safeway Open in Napa — he withdrew on Monday of tournament week, three days after officially entering the field.

That made Woods look terrible.

In this week's SI Roundtable, which must be angling for a Dramamine sponsorship to help readers deal with a wobbly webpage, Mssrs. Shipnuck and Bamberger offered this:

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated (@AlanShipnuck): I wouldn't say they're completely unimportant. If he posts numbers in the mid- to high-70s, that's just more emotional scar tissue. I'm as interested in his press conference as anything. Last year on this occasion was the most glum and fatalistic Tiger has ever sounded, publicly. I'm as curious about his head as his swing.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: I agree, Alan. He has indicated in various ways over the past 18-plus months that this is a new chapter in his life. He's always setting the table for something, and now we learn more. Is his goal here to be Tiger Woods, Dude at Large, or Tiger Woods, golfer?

On the actual course where he returns, Woods played golf with live humans Monday, including former Yankee and future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter.

Apparently the talk didn't sound much different than old men at The Villages discussing hemorrhoid remedies.

Brian Wacker reports for GolfDigest.com:

After the long range session on Sunday, Woods recovered in a hot tub and got other treatment on his surgically repaired left knee and battered back. He was also in the gym prior to his round on Monday.

“I was talking to Jetes about it and Tino. How long did it take them to get ready for each game?” Woods said. “And it took them from 3-to-4 hours as they got older. And it’s the same thing for me. I was in the gym with [Rose], and he’s in there doing the same thing. He’s 36 now, and it takes him an hour, hour and a half, just to be able to go and hit balls.

“You have to activate the muscles. . . . We miss the days going to the first tee and hitting a drive 300 yards with a balata ball and a persimmon driver. You can’t do that anymore.”

Bingo players, that's one activate, one uninspired nickname and one gym mention.

USA Today's Steve DiMeglio noted that Woods, if nothing else, is putting in a lot of work.

The quick nine – a day after Woods hit balls for more than two hours and before another long session on the range – was ideal for the winner of 79 PGA Tour titles and 14 majors as he got ready to play his first competitive round since August 2015, when he finished in a tie for 10th in the Wyndham Championship.

“I hit it good today,” said Woods, the former world No. 1 for a record 683 weeks who fell to No. 898 in the official world golf rankings on Monday.

He hit a lot, too. After taking 35-37 strokes to complete the back nine – he made two birdies and his best shot was his 360-yard drive at the downwind par-5 15th – he spent 90 minutes at the back of the range.