Tiger Woods has announced that he will open up his 2019 campaign at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines this week, a familiar course that hits close to home for Woods. For Tiger, who has won this event seven times, four more times than his longtime rival Phil Mickelson, this event is a great way to kick off his much anticipated season.
Torrey Pines was essentially Woods' backyard growing up in southern California, so naturally, he feels very comfortable playing here. This prominent course was home to the 2008 U.S. Open championship, a major event in which Woods surmounted one of his wildest victories imaginable. Playing on a torn ACL, Woods forced a playoff to Rocco Mediate on the final hole and was able to capture his 14th major.
This year for Woods will be followed with high expectations. After last seasons dramatic finish, one in which he was able to capture the Tour Championship in the final playing event, fans and critics alike are looking to see what the next chapter will write. However, we must remain civil and patient.
The season is long and tiresome on the body. Especially for a recrafted body such as Woods' which has endured 4 back surgeries and countless other alignments. As much as I want to see him blow the doors off in his first event of the year, I know that there is a long road ahead. Ultimately, the goal is to play pain-free golf at an elite level. Something we saw come to fruition toward the end of last season. Now, the expectation is that Woods will pick up right where he left off.
Tiger will be paired with Tony Finau in the first two roads of this weeks tournament, a competitor he has never played with. I know that Woods is afraid of no competitor and surely he has a lot of pride and respect toward Finau. Undoutabely, this pairing will be exciting to watch and hopefully they will be battling it out during the final round of competition.
Moving forward, as a major fan of Tiger Woods, I cannot help but smile thinking about what is to come from him this season. After the tumultuous last half decade that has tainted his legacy, it is really exciting to see him back. I know that this event will be just the beginning of the great season that is to come. Let's hope the big cat can get back on track early and show the golf world what he's really made of this year.