Looking back on these past few weeks, I have been in awe watching Tiger Woods get back into the swing of competitive golf. Sure enough, he is too. In his recent 5th place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this past weekend, Woods, with four holes left to play, charged up the leaderboard and found himself one shot back of the leader. When asked if he has been surprised with his unexpectedly quick recovery, he responded with pure candidness. “If you would have asked me at the beginning of the year if I’d have a chance to win two golf tournaments, I would have taken that in a heartbeat," he said to reporter Bob Harig.
Myself, along with the rest of the golf world has been waiting eagerly these last four years for one of golf’s greatest legends to make a heroic comeback to his sport and win another tournament. After an arduous recovery process, four back surgeries later and ample downtime, it looks like our prayers might be answered. After Woods's impressive 2nd place finish in the Valspar Open Championship two weeks ago, according to Westgate Sports Betting Agency in Las Vegas, he has been nominated as the outright favorite to win the Masters this April.
Professional golf’s most notorious tournament is the Masters. Held once a year during the first weekend of April in Augusta, Georgia, the best players in the world come out to compete in this highly anticipated event. Coming into the tournament as the outright favorite is both a privilege and a curse. It means that you are highly recognized as the pinnacle athlete in all of golf, something Tiger has held onto for much of the 21st century. On the contrary, being recognized as the best athlete in the field comes with a big target glued to their back, one that the star-studded field at Augusta is trying to chase.
For Woods, this means one thing is clear: he is back to playing professional golf, and playing it well. Whether or not this highly recognized accolade of being named the favorite is premature for a player who has only competed in 6 professional tournaments since 2013, it gives him a sense of confidence and reassures him that he is back with the spotlight on him once again.
Not only is this good for Woods, but it is good for the sport of golf. Losing the most dominant athlete on the golf course these last few years has created chaos for the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour. New and young talented players have budded and blossomed for this sport, but none have drawn the rave and commotion that comes when Tiger Woods is playing. Just look at the Valspar Open television ratings if you don’t believe me. With Woods in contention, the tournament had the highest ratings in any non-Masters tournament since 2015.
With Woods as the favorite at this year's Masters, I anticipate that the sport of golf will regain the form it has so desperately needed since Tiger’s departure. Whether or not he wins, he has brought life back to professional golf and has demonstrated that Woods is back.