Is Tiger Back?

By: Will Schiffman

On November 30 at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, former world #1 golfer Tiger Woods made his return to golf after almost a year hiatus. Tiger left the sport last year to undergo his fourth back surgery to help relieve back pain and leg pain.

Tiger who also hosted the tournament had a great start  shooting a 69 in the first round.Tiger pleased fans, early, by making a long putt for par followed by a classic ‘Tiger’ fist bump. Round two Tiger did put up another great score of 68 that put him in the lead of the tournament after the first two days.

However, Tiger lost his momentum on day three by shooting a 75. But all of the golf world was thrilled to see Tiger in his signature Sunday red. Even though Tiger put up a good score of 68 it wasn’t enough to win The Hero World Classic. Tiger came in ninth place at eight under par for the week, only ten stokes behind the winner Rickie Fowler.

We have seen this story before. Tiger has made many comebacks before only to leave the sport due to injuries. The struggles first started after his scandal when he cheated on his wife in 2009 during his prime. Tiger then ran into more injury troubles and tried to make a comeback; his swing though changed more each time forcing him to adapt to his injuries. And yet, Tiger’s original swing coach, Hank Haney, said that he hasn’t seen Tiger’s swing look as good as it does in years.

Tiger is arguably one of the greatest golfers in history, along with legends like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Ben Hogan.  He is second in official PGA tournament wins at 79 behind Sam Snead. With 14 majors, Tiger is second in major championships just four behind Jack Nicklaus. Before the scandal and injuries, the golf world believed that Tiger would have easily been crowned the golf G.O.A.T with a few more majors, but some people think that he won’t be able to come back and even win one now.

I believe that Tiger is back. He has really taken his time to recover and stay off the course to make sure that his back has fully healed. This time, Tiger has not adapted his swing to his injuries, so that his back does not bother him, like he has in his past returns. Recently, Tiger told the media that he is mainly just excited to have a scorecard in his hand and to be back in competition.  He added that he his having fun again when he has the club in his hand.

I was not  alive to see Tiger arguably play in his prime. I have seen the youtube videos of his incredible shots and amazing victories. I want to see Tiger in his Sunday red shirt playing in the final round, on the back nine battling it out against today’s best like Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rory Mcilroy, or Dustin Johnson. I want to see more famous Tiger fist bumps, more club twirls, more Sunday red, and more tournament wins.