Tiger’s winning return sets him up for genuine challenge at the Masters

Tiger Woods playing the role of a golfing Pied Piper was Colin Montgomerie’s highlight of the 2018 season and he is now licking his lips about what might be in store for the game at Augusta National in April.

Thousands of spectators spilled out on to the fairway as Woods made his way down the 18th hole at East Lake in Atlanta on his way to victory in the Tour Championship in September – his first win in five years.

The success helped lift Woods, who had finished last year outside the top 650, up to 13th in the world rankings, having made a spectacular recovery following fusion surgery on his back.

“To see the outpouring of emotion from everybody was the highlight of 2018 for me,” declared Montgomerie. “God Almighty, we never saw that ever, even in any major. The

0 Tiger Woods: Five-year gap.

scenes there were unbelievable. He had such incredible support from everyone – because they all thought they’d never see him win again.

“When you saw him pulling out of all those events, you used to think: ‘Come on, Tiger. Cut your losses and do something else’. But he was determined to do this and did it. And who says that, come Augusta time, he won’t be in contention? That would be great for the game.”

Woods is only 5-2 with one bookmaker to win a major in 2019, his first chance coming in April at The Masters, an event he has won four times.

“Imagine if he gets into that position in The Masters and does this again,” added Montgomerie, an Aberdeen Standard Investments ambassador. “Nobody thought he could win a tournament. Now he’s got to be thinking: “Well, nobody thought I could win a major, either…

“This will be some event. And it’s great that he’s in the fold. People turn on their TV and the one score they look for is Tiger Woods. That’s the one score we all look for. That’s fantastic. It’s superb for the game that he’s back again.”