Tiger takes inspiration from fab four of tennis

NO prizes for guessing that Tiger Woods was as enthralled as anyone at the astonishing progress of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and the Williams sisters to the men’s and women’s finals at the Australian Open.

Four sporting icons defying injuries and the march of time to contest the trophies at another Grand Slam….. what could possibly be the appeal of that?

Woods, of course, is making his own comeback after 17 months out and, despite missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego last week, there were enough encouraging signs to raise his spirits for the 17-hour flight to the next stage of his return at the Dubai Desert Classic this week. Tiger (below) did not have a lot going for him in California. Cool temperatures, brutal rough and dodgy greens are not ideal for a first outing back at the age of 41 but a big improvement in the second round, when he hit 10 fairways as opposed to four in the first, shows he is on the right track and there were no issues with his back. For inspiration on the long flight over to the Middle East, he was planning to watch both tennis finals being staged in Melbourne. ‘It is like old times, seeing all four of them make the two finals like that,’ said Woods.

‘It’s a testament to their wills and their work ethic because each of them has been injured of late. I’m a huge tennis fan, so this is really cool.

‘I know them all, so it’s great for us fans to see time being rolled back.’

His caddie Joe LaCava believes Woods will challenge at the Masters in April.

‘You can see it’s coming,’ said LaCava. ‘On Friday there were better drives and better iron shots.’

As for the Farmers Insurance Open, England’s Justin Rose held a one-stroke lead at halfway over champion Brandt Snedeker and Canadian Adam Hadwin.