After winning the Memorial Tournament for the fifth time on Sunday, many pundits and fans are declaring that Tiger Woods is back. Tiger now has two wins in 2012, the other being at Bay Hill-Arnold Palmer’s Tournament, so people just assume that the old Tiger is back. He’s not back, but he’s close.
Look, ever since that fateful 2009 Thanksgiving night in which his then-wife Elin introduced his face to a six-iron, and the subsequent revelations of Tiger’s “sex addiction”, golf fans have been clamoring for someone to dominate the sport like Tiger once did. It hasn’t happened. So, over the past 18 months, when Tiger gets any kind of success, whether it’s for a round or an entire tournament, fans, media, and even PGA officials (though they won’t admit it), are praying that the Tiger that dominated the sports landscape for much of the last decade has returned. It’s hard to say Tiger is back until he’s consistently in contention week in and week out, then goes out and wins another major. Based on his performance and temperament last week at Muirfield Village, that could happen sooner rather than later. Now that ‘s ranked third in the world, Tiger is the odds-on favorite to win the U.S. Open later this month.
Tiger Woods is now tied with Jack Nicklaus for second on the all-time PGA wins list. Will he catch the Golden Bear with 18 Major victories? I doubt it, but that milestone is slowly becoming more of a possibility than it was just six months ago. Either way, just sit back and enjoy the ride and some compelling golf.
Milan Jordan 