Roundup: Tiger To Begin "Phase Two" Of His Career

/

Euphoria, multiple eagles and high-level anticipation! it's all in the Bahamas air as Tiger is finally back! Shoot, the first birdie back may lower his Masters win odds to 5-1. Even the jargon (ballistics!) has been sharp and the almost-funny one liners are back.

All is right with the world!

Oh sure there is a long way to go. The body looks understandably tight (see Tripp Isenhour's breakdown at the 6 minute mark of today's Golf Central). But the swing rhythm and reports like this one from Jeff Babineau sound promising:

Maybe more impressive were some of the low, laser-like long irons he hit into the teeth of the wind on a few of Albany’s difficult par 3s, such as the eighth, playing about 230 yards, where he knocked a tee shot 12 feet past the flag and missed the putt.

As Tiger prepares to launch what is apparently been dubbed "Phase Two", Will Gray notes at GolfChannel.com that there will be entertaining mood swings that may prove more entertaining than the golf.

Sure, some feedback will be gleaned. His swing will inevitably be dissected from all angles, and the short game that bogged him down so often last year will be on full display, for better or worse.

And given such a small sample size, dangerous levels of extrapolation are sure to follow. Every made birdie will mean a 15th major is a fait accompli; every flubbed chip will lead others to question if his career has officially run its course.

Tiger is feeling the good vibes of his time at Hazeltine, as the U.S.A. Ryder Cup team wore onesies and red t-shirts emblazoned with "Make Tiger Great Again" to honor their assistant captain, writes Jason Sobel at ESPN.com. More fascinating may be how much the players want to see him play well again:

"We want our champion back," Bubba Watson said. "We want our Tiger Woods back. We want him playing again."

"He's still just turning every head when he walks into the dining area," added Spieth. "Or if he's on the driving range, I mean, everybody's looking up to see him hit some shots. I was doing it this morning, interested obviously."

Given how long he's been away and how many surgeries Tiger has been through, expectations probably need to be tempered though, as Paige Mackenzie and I discussed today on Morning Drive with Whit Watson.

Tiger will pass 150 or so players just by finishing the Hero World Challenge, even if he finishes last, Bob Harig notes at ESPN.com. Shouldn't there be some sort of ranking points penalty for tournaments of a certain (miniscule) size?

The subdued energy level from his post-pro-am round interview could be read one of two ways: this is just another Hero World Challenge and I've been doing this too long, or, I'm trying to make it sound like this is another Hero World Challenge and that I've been doing this too long.

Tiger tees off at noon ET Thursday. Golf Channel will present Morning Drive starting at 10:30 am. The show will include live shots of Tiger warming up, along with more of our Design Week coverage. At 11:55 Golf Central will take over and provide bonus coverage before the regularly scheduled 12:30 ET start.