TIGER WEEK: This Time The Hype Is Louder As Woods Surprisingly Booms Drives
As mentioned all week, this latest return of Tiger Woods seems different from the previous dog and pony show comeback. He appears pain free, happier and far more patient/realistic how he’ll play this week. Making it thru 72 holes in the no-cut Hero World Challenge is a helluva start.
But, what’s got his peers and witnesses surprised and excited is how far Tiger is launching tee shots. Like airmailing Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed tee shots. Like (according to Brad Faxon) outdriving half of Dustin Johnson’s prodigious pokes. Woods drove the 340-yard par-4 7th yesterday (yes it was downwind) and made the eagle putt.
Yep, that’s damn exciting.
Golf.com’s Sean Zak has the details on why these upcoming four rounds are must-watch TV.
While this week would be far too early and would provide much too small a sample size for conclusions on Woods’s long game, it’s all everyone really wants to talk about. Which is unusual, because though we’re used to talking about Woods’s power game, we’re not used to talking about it being great, at least not recently. Even during his five-win 2013 season in which Woods rose to No. 1 in the world, he was a below-average driver, finishing 127th on Tour in strokes gained: off the tee.
Moments after booming another drive up the right side of the 18th fairway, Woods made it clear for one of his pro-am playing partners: “If I drive the ball well, I’ll have wedges into most holes.”
That would certainly work to alleviate what Woods says is his biggest concern about his game: his distance control.
“That part’s been a little bit more of a difficult thing to do,” Woods said. “These lies, we’re getting a couple shooters every now and again. Just got to be careful on that. Joey [LaCava, his caddie] and I were talking about that today. I made an adjustment on a few things.”
I too will be just as curious how his wedge game fares today as much as his drives. And can he play four consecutive rounds pain free?
ESPN’s Jason Sobel looks for these telltale clues.
Woods should be judged on matters beyond the scorecard this week. The main focus, of course, will be on his health; four rounds without wincing or limping would at least be a step in the right direction. But more than that, Woods should be evaluated by the ol’ eyeball test. Perhaps it’s a chicken-or-the-egg conundrum, but he’s often been at his best when he’s truly enjoying the game. Which is why when others aim their attention toward his swing or his back this week, I’ll be watching for his smile.
In previous editions of Tiger’s comeback tour, the game has appeared more of a chore than a passion. We’ve all heard the rumors — that he was only competing again to appease sponsors or chase a long-hidden legacy. There were few allusions to him returning for the sheer love of the game. Not the love of competition or the love of success or the love of fame, but the love of the game.
Therein lies what could be the difference this time around.
“I miss playing golf for fun,” he insisted. “Go out there and hit and giggle and play for some denominations and have a good time. I hadn’t done that in two years. I’d play nine holes here and 18 holes there, and then I’d have to take three days off because my back was killing me. I hadn’t been able to play fun golf like that with my friends in such a long time.”
Finally there’s this amazing stat via Justin Ray…
Tiger’s 18 PGA Tour wins since the beginning of 2008 are the most of any player in that span. Woods has not won in 224 weeks.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) November 30, 2017
By the way, the over/under score for Tiger today is 72.5. I’m cautiously thinking under. Like 71 or 72.
Can’t wait to watch it all unfold at 11:30 CST on GolfChannel.
