Tiger Woods is back.
Okay, well maybe not back to his winning ways, but at least back on the golf course, looking healthy and happy, and putting up some impressive numbers, even if he hasn’t found success over four rounds.
Regardless, betting pundits now have odds of 15-1 that Woods can win the Masters in April after his tie for ninth at the Hero World Challenge.
That’s not surprising considering heading into the tournament, which ended on Sunday, there was genuine concern Woods, 41, couldn’t play four rounds without reinjuring himself. Woods had surgery in April to fuse vertebrae in his back, and there was talk that he might not be able to return to playing professional golf. As recently as the Presidents Cup, Woods was only hitting chip shots, and only moved to full swings in recent weeks. With that in mind, his finish of T9 is impressive.
Woods soared up the leaderboard on Friday, but fell back in tough conditions on Saturday at the tournament, which is held in the Bahamas. He closed with a final round of 68 that looked like it could be a lot lower until he made some costly bogeys on the final two holes. Woods played the front nine in 5-under par, but some costly missteps left him at 4-under for the round.
Tiger’s comeback was the talk of the tournament, but it was Fowler that stole the show on Sunday. After starting the day seven shots back, Fowler quickly made up for it with eight birdies on the front nine, and an additional three on the back for a course and career-record breaking 61 to capture the his fifth career victory at the Hero World Challenge in Albany in The Bahamas. He finished at 18-under, four shots clear of Charley Hoffman. Rickie also put his new KING F8+ driver, 3 wood and 5 wood (available for pre-sale Dec. 8) in play for the first time this past week, while debuting his new PUMA Golf P Snapback Cap (coming to Golf Town in 2018). Interestingly, it was Fowler who only a couple of weeks ago said Woods was hitting it past him during their Florida practice rounds.
What should golf fans take away from Woods’ return to the game? Sure, the event is a small field tournament, but it included many of the best in the world, with golfers like Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, and Justin Rose all participating. Woods finished right in the middle, 10 shots back of winner Rickie Fowler.
What’s next? Woods will likely show up again in 2018 at tournaments where he’s had past success, including Torrey Pines in San Diego (where he’s won seven times), the Genesis Open at Riviera in Los Angeles (the golfer’s foundation is involved), and maybe even Pebble Beach for the AT&T at the start of February. For Fowler, it seems like the new Cobra F8 clubs are treating him well as he continue’s to carve out his name for himself alongside the other top players on the PGA Tour ranking.
So why do you put Tiger at the beginning, it should be Rickie Fowler who shot one of the best rounds ever……don’t understand why people keep pampering this wife cheating jerk?????