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Are You Confident Tiger Woods Wins This Year After A Strong Weekend?

Rick Arnett /

Tiger Woods opened a lot of eyes and minds during his 12th place finish and even-par 280 score on the diabolical PGA National at the Honda Classic. He fought hard, showed passion, smiled more and his approach shots, short game and driving distance were stellar.

Other than getting pounded by the Bear Trap, Woods played better than most of the talented field.

I was one who had no idea what the latest version of Tiger we’d see. Does he appear healthy and pain free? Yes. Does his physique appear more in tune to golf rather than a strong safety? Yes. How’s that club head speed? Awesome (124-128mph with the driver!). Does his short game appear in synch? Yep. And how were his scoring chances? Good again as he led the field in approach shot proximity by over 2-feet.

The putter looks promising too, barely missing numerous makable birdie putts–but he wasn’t missing by much. Oh, Woods beat Sergio Garcia by 5 shots and Rory McIlroy by nine shots. 

Woods also earned his biggest on-course paycheck in over two years ($151,800)

Anyway, as a self-admitting skeptic, I’d roll my eyes anytime I was asked about Tiger’s chances of winning or winning a major. Now, I’d say his odds are somewhere in single digits for finishing on the first page of the Masters leaderboard. Sure, he hasn’t won The Masters since 2005 but has 7 top-6s since. Augusta’s fairways are generous and no one knows those greens more than Woods.

Golf.com’s writers piped in with their thoughts.

Wood, caddie for Matt Kuchar: I was convinced before, and I’m more convinced now. He seems completely healthy. His short game looks vintage Tiger, his putting looks very good, and he is bombing it. But you can toss all that out the window and just watch him out there Saturday and Sunday. His eyes told you how much he was into it. Every shot was given 100% effort and attention. A 12th place finish in a strong field on a very difficult golf course isn’t the ultimate, but it’s huge progress for him.

Ritter: I’ve been cautiously optimistic about this comeback all the way along, but this was obviously a huge step forward. I’m sure there will still be MCs and stumbles along the way, but we got a glimpse at what a healthy Woods can do, and it’s clear he can be a factor in top events going forward. And Augusta just got a little more interesting, didn’t it?

Bamberger: Until this week, I didn’t know what golf meant to him, and I didn’t know how good he could still be. I believe he can win on Tour again. And if he can do that, he can win a major. It is amazing how much more you see when you watch the golf in person. I enjoyed watching Woods this week as much as I enjoyed watching any of his wins. He showed a grace and a frailty that I don’t think I had ever seen or felt before. He played well and he can play better.

Shipnuck: Given all the things he did well, it seems like 12th is about the worst he could have finished. The biggest problem in Tiger’s game right now is the big miss: he made three double bogeys, and got lucky with some very wild drives. For all the excellent swings he made, those mistakes felt more mental than physical. Is this residual rust or something deeper? Time will tell.

Frequent Tiger evaluator Brandel Chamblee was mystified how a 42-year-old with back fusion surgery could generate such explosive club head speed.

My guess is Woods plays at either the Valspar or Bay Hill as a last tuneup before Augusta. But maybe he squeezes in another since he’s enjoying being back on the battlefield so much.

BTW, Woods’ Masters odds are now at 16/1 compared to Thomas’ 12-1 odds, which puts him in a group with Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Jason Day. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson leads at 7-1, with Jordan Spieth right behind at 9-1.

Other players of note include Rickie Fowler at 16-1, Hideki Matsuyama and Phil Mickelson at 25-1, and last year’s winner Sergio Garcia at 50-1.

Honda Classic Majors PGA Tour Tiger Woods