Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Woods wins at last but is Tiger “back” this time round?
“That was a huge win for Tiger Woods today. Our game just got a whole lot more interesting,” scribed world number 11 Dustin Johnson on Twitter on Sunday after his fellow American dominated the field at Bay Hill to clinch the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
This theme is already being discussed just hours after former world number one Woods won his first PGA Tour event since September 2009 after a much publicised fall from grace towards the end of that year and at the beginning of 2010.
Like him or loathe him, there is no doubt the 14-times major champion does wonders for the game of golf. You only had to listen to the raucous crowd chanting his name around the 18th green a few hours ago to appreciate that.
So, will this yield a new era of dominance by Woods? Commentators and experts were abuzz during his final round on Sunday, some saying he is now swinging the club better than when he was winning majors back in the middle of the last decade.
There’s a way to go however to match the relentless streak Woods set off on in 2000-01, when he held all four major tournaments at the same time and looked unstoppable. Those days are long gone.
Nonetheless, with the American hitting shots like his towering 267-yard three iron to within 15 feet on the par-five 6th during his final round and more importantly wielding a red hot putter, who is to say this is not the start of another era of dominance?
One thing is for sure. The year’s first major at Augusta National cannot come quickly enough. Woods to be paired with the top two ranked players Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy in rounds one and two? No doubt the Augusta committee are busy thinking up some star-billed trios as we speak.
Woods caught between Rock and not such a hard place
There was no first full-field event win for the first time since November 2009 for Tiger Woods despite starting the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship tied for the lead, but at long last the future seems bright for the 14-times major winner.
Englishman Robert Rock could barely believe what he had achieved in seeing off Woods in the final round to claim his second European Tour victory. It was a heart-warming triumph for the lesser known players who battle each season just to keep their tour-playing rights, galaxies away from the world Woods inhabits.
The American however seemed to return to earth during his time in the desert. Gone was his aloof, hot and cold manner of the past two years since his much-publicised sex scandal, replaced in the Middle East by friendly TV interviews and a vastly improved on-course demeanour.
Next up for the 36-year-old is the Pebble Beach Pro-Am starting on Feb. 9, another favoured location for Woods where he stormed to a record 15-shot U.S. Open win in 2000 when at the peak of his powers.
With two children to make time for, Woods’ schedule won’t be a packed one but will centre around the big events in the lead-up to the season’s defining months of April, May, June, July and August.
Another hurdle for the former world number one, now up to 17th in Monday’s rankings from 25, will be the release of former coach Hank Haney’s book on his time with the American, which provoked criticism from Woods himself given it will hit the shelves just before the first major of the year (U.S. Masters) in early April.
Nevermind. During his recent woes there were glimmers that Woods could enjoy himself and was relaxed, but they were few and far between. Those days are behind him now. As the old adage goes, form is temporary, class is permanent.
