When Tiger started posting birdies and eagles in eye-popping fashion on the final day of the Honda Classic, NBC golf broadcaster Dan Hicks and analyst Johnny Miller sounded like a couple of kids who scored X-Boxes on Christmas morning.
Finally, the old Tiger had surfaced on a Sunday with the chance of pulling off a miracle comeback on a difficult course fashioned by Jack Nicklaus, whose record of 18 majors Tiger has been furiously chasing.
If not for the young Irish phenom Rory McIlroy playing steady golf through the Bears Trap holes at PGA National, the entire golf media world would be falling all over themselves celebrating the return of Tiger and his game.
Whether you’re a Tiger hater or supporter, there’s no denying people can’t stop watching this guy play golf. Haters despise Tiger’s arrogance, self-importance and general surliness around fans and the media, yet supporters are willing to forgive off-the-course shenanigans to cheer on once-in-a-generation supreme greatness.
The “62”, I believe, signals Tiger has mastered the swing techniques suggested by his instructor Sean Foley, however, Tiger has still not put together four days of great golf in a long time.
Can Tiger win before the Masters?
No. I think the “62” was an anomaly and that he still has work to regain his consistency over four days. He has a couple of high-profile tournaments (Doral and Bay Hill) before the Masters to fine-tune his game, though.
Come Augusta time, Woods will be ready to contend for the title against Rory, Phil and all comers providing he has his putting touch for the week.
If you think Hicks and Miller were giddy last Sunday, wait’ll you hear the Tiger-fawning ESPN and CBS announcers during Masters week.
Welcome back Tiger.
What took you so long?
