Tiger Woods is back and the world will be watching.
It’s typical of the man that he casually announced last week he was going to play the Genesis Invitational, which gets under way today.
It’s remarkable to think two years have passed since his car accident which came during this very event.
The recovery from that terrible crash has been a slow and seemingly painful one with Tiger managing just nine rounds of tournament golf last year.
The fact we haven’t seen him play since the Open at St Andrews last summer makes this week even more exciting.
After all – how many golfers do you normally see interviewed about the return of another player?
Yet that is what the PGA Tour spent the weekend doing and from Jon Rahm to Jason Day, the genuine excitement and happiness among Tiger’s peers was clear for all to see.
Everyone is pumped to hear @TigerWoods is teeing it up next week @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/q6zjACv5qg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 11, 2023
For my generation, and the guys who are in their 20s, Tiger is the man who changed the game.
He’s the Michael Jordan of golf, a one-man force who changed the landscape completely.
He was world number one for 283 weeks in a row and held the position for 683 in total.
When you see it changing hands every couple of weeks these days, it reinforces just how special a talent he is.
I feared Tiger was winding down – but Tiger doesn’t play unless he thinks he can win
I admit I was fearing the worst when he pulled out of the Hero World Challenge in November.
I thought this would be the start of him winding down his appearances after a lack of competitive action in 2022, and was resigned to seeing him make four appearances a year at the Majors and not much else.
I hadn’t expected to see him play again until the Masters at Augusta in April, so it’s an unexpected but much welcome sight to see him back playing a PGA Tour event this week.
If it goes well then maybe we will see him commit to some sort of schedule – even if it was a tournament appearance the week before the Majors, it would be great to see him.
He’s done it all in the game and has nothing to prove to anyone but himself at this stage in his career.
But boy wouldn’t it be something special to see him playing four rounds of golf on a regular basis again?
I’m not expecting a sporting miracle on his first appearance since July, but I know this much… Tiger wouldn’t be playing if he didn’t think he could win. That’s just the nature of the man.
World number 1 fight intensifying
Tiger, of course, is returning to very different golfing environment in 2023.
Scottie Scheffler is back to world number one and it seems he, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy are determined to duke it out all year for the top spot on the world rankings.
Scheffler regained the top spot with his victory in the Phoenix Open.
In retaining the title he won last year, he ended Rory’a four-month reign at the top of the rankings.
As we all know, Rahm has been banging on the door recently, and it is clear the three of them have pulled clear of the chasing pack into a class of their own.
The numbers are outrageous: Scheffler has not finished lower than 11th in an event since October, while Rahm has been in the top eight since August. Then there is Rory whose 32nd place finish in Phoenix was the first time in 10 events he has finished outside the top 10.
Those three guys are putting up consistent performances most of us can only dream of and it’s incredible to see them going toe-to-toe like this.
It’s also good for the game overall.
Tiger dominated golf for years, but the more guys we can have competing for the big events and at the top of the rankings, the better as far as I’m concerned.
Members deserve answers from Scottish Golf
What is going on at Scottish Golf?
It’s a question I and many others in the game would love to know the answer to following news of more unrest behind the scenes.
Aberdeen’s 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie has resigned from the board, while chief executive officer Karin Sharp is no longer at the helm.
A new interim chief executive has been appointed in Fraser Thornton, while a search for a permanent chief operating officer is completed, and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I’d love to know what their plans for the future are.
I’m like any other golfer who pays their £14.50 affiliation fee and I know our fees are being increased to £15.75.
But the million dollar question is… what are they planning on doing with the money the increase generates?
I look at golf in Scotland and I think we’ve got terrific professionals, great courses and real optimism for the future.
But, at amateur level, it all seems a bit of mess just now. There’s no plan, no real pathway in place.
When guys like Paul – who knows a thing or two about the game and has been a huge supporter of golf in this country – are stepping down from the board, it sets an alarm bell ringing for me.
I think we’d all welcome some clarity at grassroots level about just what is going on and what the future holds.
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