Save the date. October 13 2016 could be a significant one for golf. And no, it’s not The Herald’s autumn outing at Cawder. All being well, the Safeway Open in California will mark Tiger Woods’s first competitive appearance for well over a year following a variety of surgeries and complications with his gammy back.
The Wyndham Championship in August 2015 was the last time we saw the Woods on the tees and having waited so long for another Tiger showing, it looks like three will come along at once. After his initial return, which should stir up the same kind of giddy fever that greeted the Elvis ‘68 Comeback Special, Woods has also pencilled in the European Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open in November and his own Hero World Challenge at the start of December.
"My rehabilitation is to the point where I'm comfortable making plans, but I still have work to do," he said on his official website. "Whether I can play depends on my continued progress and recovery.”
Given that his previous, ill-fated and often hasty reappearances ended in wincing, hirpling agony, it could be more hands-over-the-eyes stuff. Should the comeback go ahead, it will still be a hugely eye-catching spectacle, though. He may have been out of sight over these past few months, but he’s never out of mind. The inevitable online frenzy that was whipped up by his announcement last night demonstrated the huge lure Woods still has. The global game may have moved on, with a new wave of bright young things in the upper echelons, but it can’t let go.
Woods, who was the world No 1 for 281 consecutive weeks during his pomp, languishes down in 711th spot on the global order, sandwiched between that well-kent pairing of Jihoon Lee and Billy Hemstock. The last time somebody so low garnered so much attention was when Evel Knievel ended up at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon.
“I don’t think winning is going to come as easily as it was back in the past,” said Jason Day, the current world No 1. “But if he’s willing to do the work, and willing to climb that mountain again and get back to where he was? I mean he’s done it two or three times before, so the possibilities are endless for him."
Twenty years after turning pro, Woods could be poised to start again.
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