Tiger Woods' return creates buzz, but will he win again?
SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods has made comebacks before.
Many of them. In 2003 after knee surgery, in 2006 after the death of his father and in 2009 after reconstructive knee surgery. Then in 2010 he came back after public scandal, in 2011 after dealing with issues in his legs and neck, twice in 2014 after back surgery and in 2015 after crippling chipping yips.
Now he’s back again. The longest absence of his career — he hasn’t played on the PGA Tour in 17 months because of two surgeries to his back in the fall of 2015 — ends Thursday at 1:40 p.m. ET on the first hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open.
But there isn’t a ho-hum, just-another-comeback air to this return.
This time it feels different, looks different, sounds different. The buzz seems to have a different aura, measured in the metrics of social media and the volume of enthusiasm and anticipation shared by Woods, his rivals and fans.
“It is different because I’ve been away for so long,” Woods said Wednesday before the sun came up on a chilly morning at Torrey Pines. “It’s great to be back out here again. I’ve missed this. I miss trying to beat these guys.”
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The winner of 79 PGA Tour titles, including 14 major championships, hasn’t won anywhere in the world since the 2013 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, his fifth win that year en route to his 11th PGA Tour Player of the Year award.
He last played on the Tour in the 2015 Wyndham Championship, where he tied for 10th. In his return to competitive golf in December in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, he finished 15th in the field of 17.
The recordholder for most consecutive weeks at No.1 in the official world golf rankings and most weeks in all has been gone so long he is now ranked 663rd.
But as each day passed and Woods started regaining his strength, his zeal to get back inside the ropes intensified. His mood peaked at the Ryder Cup, where as an assistant captain during the USA’s victory he reveled in the team room and realized how much he missed the action.
For months, there has been a captivating spirit in his voice when he talked of returning to the game he’s loved since he was 2 and made his first TV appearance on The Mike Douglas Show and hit balls for Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart.
He’s flashing more smiles these days, laughing a bit more. There is a noticeable pep in his step after months of debilitating pain that threatened his way of life; his back is now healthy enough to play soccer and goof around with his two children and to get down to business on the golf course.
He said he’s strong and fresh and that his speed and power are back. His look includes new golf clubs (TaylorMade) and golf balls (Bridgestone), a move driven by Nike’s decision to stop making equipment.
“I’m excited,” Woods said.
He isn’t the only one.
When Woods announced Jan.4 that he would play at Torrey Pines, where he has won eight times, including his last major triumph in the 2008 U.S. Open, the Internet blew up, according to Peter Ripa, tournament director for the Farmers.
Within the first 12 hours of the announcement, there were 573 online articles on 385 outlets that mentioned Woods and Farmers Insurance Open, according to metrics Ripa and his staff tracked.
The tournament’s Facebook page, which usually gets 2,800 hits per day, got 16,600 visits within 12 hours, with page likes of the announcement up 191% from an average post. The tournament’s Twitter account saw a 193% increase in followers in 12 hours from the same time last month.
The tournament’s website saw an increase of 226% in traffic the day Woods committed to play. Online ticket sales are up 159% from last year, although sales were tempered in 2016 because of foul weather.
“Sometimes we get close to the sun inside golf and we may not appreciate the reach that he has,” Ripa said. “Those who loosely follow sports and big events may all of a sudden, if he is in the field, be interested. It’s like having the Yankees or Michael Jordan come to town. People just drop whatever they are doing and say, ‘Yeah I’d be interested in that.’”
Woods’ colleagues are interested in seeing what unfolds, too.
“I think everybody will be excited about it,” defending Farmers champion Brandt Snedeker said. “I’m excited to see how he’s progressed since the Bahamas. Anytime he shows up to an event, especially here, the crowds are immensely bigger. I’m excited to see what he can do because I want him back playing great.”
The Farmers Insurance Open is the first of four events Woods will play in five weeks, a schedule that includes a trip next week to the Middle East for the Dubai Desert Classic and then back-to-back playing dates in the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles and the Honda Classic in Florida. He will quickly find out if his game stands up and his back holds up.
His rivals hope so.
“I think there’s a fun buzz within the players because we all want an opportunity to go head-to-head with him,” two-time major winner and former world No.1 Jordan Spieth said. “That’s why we got into this, not to play for second, but to have a chance to take down the top couple greatest to ever play the game. We can say I battled Tiger when we felt like he was really on, and I was able to get the breaks and pull it off.
“That’s something you can tell your grandkids.”
Zach Johnson, who held off Woods to win the 2007 Masters and won the 2015 British Open on the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland, said the state of the game since Woods’ absence has been tremendous, spurred by youngsters such as Spieth, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and others, as well as veterans who have played well.
“But when you add the best player in the past 30 years back onto that list, it just makes everything that much better. He still is by far the biggest barometer we’ve ever had in the game,” Johnson said. “I want him back, and I want him playing at a level where these young guys can get a taste of what we went through for so many years. Even if it’s just six months or a year or two years, I just want to see an appetizer of his wrath again. And I’m saying that out of complete awe and respect.”
But can Woods produce victory again? At 41 and beyond?
“Adamantly, 100%, absolutely yes,” Johnson said. “He’s the best player I have ever played with. And in 2013 he won five tournaments. That wasn’t that long ago. Now I’m going to put an asterisk next to that — it completely revolves around him being healthy. He’s won tournaments not healthy, but I’m also nearly his age so I know being that old, being 40, 41, it doesn’t get any easier.
“But I know he loves the competition, loves the guys and loves the game enough that he wants to win again. There is still passion and competitive drive.”
Hank Haney, Woods’ former coach and now host of a Sirius XM Radio show, said he was encouraged by what he saw of Woods in the Hero World Challenge, where he and winner Hideki Matsuyama each made a tournament-leading 24 birdies.
“His issues were too many big misses and too many penalty shots that have plagued him the past few years. I didn’t see any misses that were 70 yards offline. His misses were minimal, and that was a good step for him,” Haney said. “And his enthusiasm looked tremendous. He looked into it, he looked like he really wanted to be there, that he was enthused to play.
“That was a great sign.”
The last three years when Haney was working with Woods he won 45% of his starts and finished in the top-10 85% of the time. Woods won’t approach those numbers again but Haney said he will win again.
“He was just a whole different level of greatness, and you just don’t forget that,” Haney said. “The memory that he has and the greatness he had is an advantage when he gets his game back up. You can’t tell me winning 79 times won’t be an advantage on a Sunday. He just has to get to a Sunday. He’s going to be competitive. It’s not even going to be a question. And that will bring even more enthusiasm to the game. There are a lot of great players right now and the game is in good shape, but it’s always a better story when the icon is competing with them.”
But his back has to be right.
“If his back is right, then to me it’s just a question does he have the desire and the enthusiasm to climb back up the mountain. And from what I saw at the Hero he was full of enthusiasm and it looked like he was having fun and he really wanted to be out there,” Haney said. “ … I think he’s going to be pretty darn good. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to win again, and I think he’s going to win another major. And if he wins another major, then his confidence is going to be very high.
“But Father Time is still ticking.”
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