Guess whose back…

Back again. Tiger’s back. Tell a friend. Or indeed anyone who has any interest in sport. Tiger came roaring back to golf after a 4 month absence with a solid 2 under par total of 68 on Firestone golf course in Akron, Ohio. It is a tournament and a course that Woods loves having won this event 7 times; his first win on Firestone coming in 1999. However he did finish in a tie for 78^th last year but that was when the 14 time major winner was at his lowest ebb. He was playing with the new Open champion Darren Clarke last night and the Ulsterman couldn’t have played much worse. He shot a 7 over par 77 which included an eagle on the 8^th, holing his second from nearly 200 yards. In stark contrast to his playing partner, Woods was a model of consistency. He only made one bogey last night when being too aggressive on the 14^th, finding the greenside bunker and failing to make a sand save. He tried to play a delicate bunker shot with little green to work with, aiming to land the ball softly on the edge of the green and let it trickle down to the hole. He misplayed the shot by a matter of inches but the fact that he was willing to back his touch after a 4 month lay off shows us that he is not here this week to make up the numbers.

                                                     His scrambling on the front nine was excellent, making a number of par putts from 6-12 feet. He was level par through nine and he then went onto pick up 2 shots on the first two holes coming in. As mentioned, he gave one back at 14 but the 16^th par-5 was vintage Woods. He sliced his tee shot right on the longest par-5 on the tour which prompted commentator Bruce Critchley to remark that Woods doesn’t like the tee shot on 16 and he (Critchley) had seen him hit it all over the place off the tee in years gone by but he noted that he usually went on the make birdie. This time was no exception. Woods played a hard fade with a wood from under a tree in the right hand side rough. He then pitched to about 20 feet and duly holed out. Incidentally, this was the same hole that when Steve Stricker was playing his third to the green Critchley’s co-commentator Ewen Murray informed us, “this is a par-5 for Stricker today but then again it’s a par-5 for everyone.” Nothing gets past the experienced Scotsman. Woods never really let leash with the driver, swinging very much within himself but the most striking aspect of his round was his touch. His chipping was very good but his putting was first rate. He has gone back to his putter of old and he never looked like missing anything from six feet and regularly gave himself a chance from longer. One round doesn’t a tournament make but if Woods can maintain his fitness then a tournament win before the year is out is certainly not out of the question for the world no. 28.