Roundup: Tiger's Coming Back (Again)
/Steve DiMeglio with the USA Today take on Tiger announcing a December return to the Hero World Challenge, just as Hank Haney guaranteed.
I wrote about why I'm buying stock in Tiger this time around for the weekly Golfweek and now posted online. This was before we knew of the Hero entry today, but with all signs pointing to a comeback (again).
And some of the same points are noted by Will Gray at GolfChannel.com. In particular: Tiger's lighter and more open approach:
To his credit, Woods appears to have used his time away from the game to turn over a new, self-deprecating leaf. He grinned his way around Liberty National as an assistant captain and displayed a level of self-awareness with his “return of the stinger” tweet last week that would have seemed out of place a decade ago.
Even Monday’s announcement included a reference to the “committee of 1” which granted Woods, the tournament host, an exemption specifically reserved for the tournament host.
The thought of a largely healthy Woods returning to action is tantalizing enough, but for that same player to be willing to have a little fun while trying to keep up with players half his age? The internet has combusted over less.
Ryan Lavner summarizes the views of Notah Begay, who is pleasantly surprised but how quickly things are going all of a sudden after Tiger showed great patience in his latest rehab process.
Here he was explaining:
Jason Sobel at ESPN.com reminds us to not get carried away with some of the deja vu all over again aspects to this.
Woods made a similar return from injury at this same event last year, finishing in a share of last place among those who completed four rounds, but in a tie for the tournament lead in birdies with eventual champion Hideki Matsuyama.
A month later, Woods missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, which was followed by the withdrawal in Dubai a week later.
ESPN's Bob Harig explains how Tiger green-lit this comeback and says the Hero World Challenge is "a nice soft landing" spot.
Before the news, Damon Hack and I discussed the different signs this time around:
