Tiger’s terrific revival rolls on
RUSSELL GOULD TIGER Woods didn’t shoot the best opening round at Bay Hill yesterday, but after he made a 21m bomb for birdie on the seventh, the reverberations of his comeback were felt by bookmakers around the world.
The 14-time major champion, in only his fourth tournament after spinal fusion surgery last year, finished the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational four shots behind Swede Henrik Stenson, who is eight-under.
Australian Marc Leishman shot an opening two-under 70 and Jason Day a 73.
Woods, 42, finished the opening round as the new favourite for the Masters at Augusta next month. The fourtimes Masters champion will tee up there for the first time since 2015.
Written off by pundits when he slipped out of the top 1000 in world rankings, a win at Augusta would be one of the great sporting comebacks.
Yesterday’s round comes after Woods’ second-place finish at the Valspar Championship last weekend.
He is ticking so many boxes, with his swing, his “feel” and, most importantly, his confidence, that a fifth green jacket is now a distinct possibility.
Speaking to him on Wednesday, just before he was confirmed as US team captain for next year’s Presidents Cup, his enthusiasm was palpable.
You got the sense that even he didn’t know what was going to happen this time around, despite the hours and hours of work he put into making sure when he did tee it up again he was Tiger Woods.
He has high standards, really high, and now he’s starting to hit some of those marks.
“I was struggling for a number of years there and it was a very difficult life to live and now on this side I’m just very thankful to be here,” Woods said at Bay Hill.
“I feel way more comfortable in the tournament setting.
“It’s taken a little bit of time in terms of tournament rounds under my belt to be able to get into this position and I’ve got my tournament feels now.
“I enjoy just playing again after what I’ve been through.”
Woods’ opening 68 came despite a double bogey after he sent an errant tee shot at the third out of bounds. But there were six birdies, including the monster putt on the par-three seventh. We’ll call that the shot heard around the world.
It was the shot that propelled him to the top of Augusta considerations and the shot that, if they weren’t already, put all his competitors on the sort of high alert they thought they might never feel again.