Aaaaaaanddd just like that, he's back. Tiger Woods has finally returned from his nearly 3 month hiatus from the PGA Tour. Leg and ankle injuires are what plagued Woods this time, so much so that the last time he teed it up at an event, he only lasted 9 holes before he withdrew. After that chaos ensued, one thing led to another, and many speculated on when he would return. Some thought he'd be back by the U.S. Open. Nope. Others thought the British is when he would tee it up again. Wrong. A bit of people even thought he'd just shut it down for the season. Nuh-uh.
Turns out Firestone for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational would be his place of choice to return. “Oh, yeah, the knee is better, no doubt. The Achilles is better, as well.” is what a confident Woods told the media earlier this morning. So yeah, his confidence is there. His health is (according to him) as good as its been in "years" as well. But how's his golf game, you ask? That's as good a guess as anyone else's.
Apparently, his coach doesn't even know. Last week his swing coach Sean Foley admitted that he hadn't had a range session with Woods since the injury. But, Tiger told the media he has been hitting balls for a few weeks now, and was super close to playing the Greenbrier last week, but wanted to hold off for a bit longer. Well, that bit is now and the world will get to see how the former No. 1 will play for a full 4 days (there is no cut, so barring a DQ or WD from him, he'll get to play all 72 holes, regardless of success or fail).
So, although "El Tigre" is back and ready to go, that's all we know about him for now. Even though he will be playing with good buddy Darren Clarke for the first two rounds and has his design president on the bag for him, the questions are still very much with him. Anything from "How healthy is he really?" to "Was playing here the right decision?" will be thrown around by the announcers this week. Trust me. They'll ask these and MANY more. Why? Because it's Tiger Woods, one of the most famous athletes ever to play a sport. If he does well, then that's awesome for golf and sport in general. That'll mean a global star is on the upswing. But if not... then we'll have to wait a little while longer to see if he can get to his prime form once again. Regardless, we'll all be (to quote a Jack Johnson song) sitting, waiting, wishing for something to happen.
Here is the ENTIRE Tiger Woods press conference from this morning (Wednesday), courtesy of pgatour.com :
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