It’s early days, but if Tiger Woods’ refreshing attitude in his comeback tournament holds good, the former world number one for a record 683 weeks will regain the majority of fans he lost.
Gone was the surly “golf owes me” attitude. In its stead was a Woods who answered questions with a genuine smile, and an equally genuine belief he can regain his best form – and break the two records that mean the most to him, held by Jack Nicklaus and Sammy Snead.
“There’s no point in playing if you don’t believe you can win”
But the jury is out of the targets.
Woods hasn’t won a major since the 2008 US Open, so he’s treading water on 14 chasing Nicklaus’ 18, and he hasn’t won a tournament on the USPGA tour since the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2013, so his 79 victories still trail Snead’s 82.
But there were both encouraging and concerning comeback moments at the Hero World Challenge he hosted in the Bahamas.
Encouraging that the 898th-ranked golfer in the world returned after 466 days of not competing following three back surgeries and the necessary rehab that he finished the mid-week pro-am, and the 72 holes, in one piece.
Encouraging that despite finishing 14 shots shy of the winner Hideki Matsuyama in 15th place among the elite 17-man field, that Woods carded 24 birdies, the most in the tournament, compared to Matsuyama’s 22, Henrik Stenson’s 21, and 20 birdies for Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and Bubba Watson.
That was the most poignant stat of the tournament.
The concern were Woods’ eight bogeys and six doubles – three of the doubles were on the 18th hole in the first, third, and final round.
That normally would have angered Woods to the point he wouldn’t even be interviewed.
But the new look Woods calmly went about explaining what went wrong, including this great quote.
“Golf is not about how good your good game is, it’s about how bad is your bad”.
And that clearly explained how he dropped 20 shots in 14 holes that stopped him from winning.
Even his knockers, and I have long been one of them, had to be impressed with the big change from the dramatic dalliance days he plunged a dagger into the heart of the very sport that made him golf’s first billionaire.
Woods turns 41 at the end of the month, and judging by his 24 birdies, there’s life in the old dog yet.
And that’s great for golf, providing of course the new look remains solid.
Maybe Woods is a late bloomer when it comes to behaving decently. Whatever the reason, it’s most welcome.
It sets up a vastly different ball game with the new breed not scared of Tiger Woods any more.
In his hey-day, every other golfer turned up happy to play for second.
Now it’s Tiger Woods who has to chase the likes of Jason Day, Jordan Spieth Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, and Bubba Watson.
Plus the hottest golfer on the planet at the moment in Hideki Matsuyama who has won four of his last five tournaments, with a second.
Tiger Woods is poised to re-enter the grinding USPGA tour with a vengeance, and with Jason Day’s chronic back problems on the mend, the scene is set for a cracking 2017, with an emphasis on the majors.
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