Left field

Tiger Woods’s hotly anticipated return to the PGA Tour after eight months on the sidelines because of a knee injury has sparked widespread debate with most, but not all, golf fans celebrating his comeback.With the American world number one back in action this week for the first time since his astonishing U.S. Open victory last year, television ratings are bound to soar and spectator numbers will be driven upwards.

Woods, the greatest player of his generation and arguably of all time, is a must-see show when he arrives in town — in much the same way as Michael Jordan was when in his NBA pomp.

A winner of 14 major titles, Woods has the ability to produce the remarkable almost on demand. Monster putts holed or extraordinary recovery shots achieved from awkward positions are usually greeted by his trademark fist pump — raw and almost tangible golfing theatre.

For many people, Tiger Woods IS golf and he has almost single-handedly ushered in an era of multi-million dollar endorsements and lucrative appearance money since turning professional in 1996.

For some, though, he has become bigger than the game itself over the last decade, and this they deplore. His detractors bemoan the plethora of Tiger headlines in the newspapers whenever he tees it up in a tournament — regardless of how well he plays.

With Woods competing, the media gather like moths around a candle fame. In contrast, a tournament without Woods is almost viewed as a non-event.

And yet when Woods shut down his 2008 campaign last June to have reconstructive knee surgery, the final six months of the year generated some compelling storylines in the world of golf.

The Great White Shark, Greg Norman, flirted with British Open victory in the howling winds of Royal Birkdale before Ireland’s Padraig Harrington landed the final two majors of the season.

PGA Tour veteran Vijay Singh triumphed three times in five weeks to clinch the lucrative FedExCup and twenty-somethings Camilo Villegas of Colombia and American Anthony Kim each won twice on the U.S. circuit to break through into the top flight.

For many golfing purists, these stories were just as enjoyable as some of the stirring chapters already written out by Woods and, in many ways, much more refreshing.

The debate on whether Woods is good or bad for the game will continue to run, with the next instalment unfolding at this week’s WGC- Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Arizona where the world number one defends his title.

PHOTO: Tiger Woods speaks during the We Are One: Opening Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, January 18, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed