Tiger Woods Makes a Solid Return

The changing of the guard in golf hasn’t happened yet. A healthy Tiger Woods returned to competition this past week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational after missing roughly 10 weeks to injury. In his absence, something Tour officials and ad execs have feared over the years, Rory McIlroy quelled fears of a Tiger-less golf world with his performance at the U.S. Open. We had a glimpse towards a future loaded with potential, one that also includes the likes of Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, and Ryo Ishikawa. Even so, the story going into the Bridgestone was all about Tiger. The setbacks may have redirected the conversation at times, but the reality is that the golf world still revolves around Woods.

In the end, the story was about Adam Scott and his newly appointed caddy Steve Williams. Scott roared out of the gate at eight under par, firing a bogey free round of 62 on Thursday. After an even par second round, he made four birdies in the final seven holes on his way to a 66 on Saturday. With Ishikawa, Fowler, and Luke Donald charging, Scott opened the final round with a 34 on the front. He then made birdies at 10, 12, 14, and 18 for his eighth career win and first World Golf Championship. The definitive moment was on the par 3 12^th. After barely missing the green to the left of the pin, Scott confidently had Steve Williams pull the flag as he chipped in for birdie and never looked back.

If anyone is going to benefit from Tiger’s reformation, it has to be Adam Scott. It is hard to overstate the importance of the caddy in professional golf. They’re not just out there to carry a golfer’s bag and scrub off their clubs. They are out there for strategical, emotional, and psychological support. A poor golfer-caddy relationship will undue a pro’s game quicker than any swing flaw. Steve Williams is one of the best ever and was on Tiger’s bag for 72 wins, including 13 of his 14 majors. Beyond that invaluable experience, Scott also gains the benefit of Steve’s course knowledge. It was Adam’s first win at the Bridgestone, but it was Stevie’s eighth. Scott played like someone who knew the course intimately, a true testament to Williams.

Entering the tournament, most of the talk was still about Tiger and whether he would win for a record eighth time at Firestone. The expectations by the media and the golf world were outrageous, so much so that it downplays how good his return actually was.  His scorecard for the week was 68-71-72-70. He finished in a tie for 37^th place at one over par. Not having practiced a full swing in 10 weeks, I’d say that’s about as well as he could have expected to play. Ironically, the one thing he had been able to practice was putting, and that’s where he arguably dropped the most strokes. But being on the practice green in your own private facility, in the backyard of your $55 million mansion is far cry from being on the green at a WGC event with the galleries watching.

His worst score was two over par, which is certainly no disaster. In the end, he’s got to be happy by the way he finished. He opened Sunday’s round with two birdies in the first five holes, but erased them with a double bogey on the 6^th. He made three more bogeys in the next seven holes. At three over par with four to play, Woods rallied for consecutive birdies at 15, 16 and 17 to finish at even for the day. Rather than harp on the negatives, Tiger needs to take whatever it was that he found during those closing holes into the PGA Championship. His final score was good enough to beat nine golfers who have won tournaments this year, including two major winners (Jonathan Byrd, K.J. Choi, Charl Schwartzel, Phil Mickelson, Rory Sabbatini, Sean O’Hair, Jhonattan Vegas, Darren Clarke, and Gary Woodland). There’s plenty to work on, but it was still a solid return.

A few other noteworthy things

- “Drive for show, putt for dough.” The 16^th at Firestone is a 667 yard par 5. On Saturday, Bubba Watson smacked a 415 yard drive off the tee, tying J.B. Holmes for the second longest on Tour this year. Still 243 yards from the pin, Bubba took an iron out and put it to 13 feet. He then two putted for birdie. The only thing standing between Watson and four or five majors is his putter.

- Baseball. The New York Yankees can’t be feeling good about the fact that C.C. Sabathia is now 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA against the Boston Red Sox this year. But think about it this way, if he wasn’t 16-2 with a 2.11 ERA, the Yanks wouldn’t even be close to Boston. Although, it still doesn’t bode well for New York. Josh Beckett stymied Yankees bats again last night. While he didn’t get the win, the Sox are still 4-0 against Yankees when he starts.

- Football. New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is a jerk. Why do I say this? After learning that defensive end Shaun Ellis signed with the New England Patriots, Ryan had this to say: “The fact that he chose them…There’s no way I’m going to wish him well. There’s no chance of that.” That’s a hell of a way to honor an 11-year term of service during which Ellis racked up the 3^rd most sacks in team history. The gamesmanship of the Jets-Patriots rivalry is entertaining, but Ellis deserves better than that.