Is Tiger back?

[Foxholer]

He's exempt until he turns 60.

Ah! Missed/forgot that! Thanks (all).
Mind you, he looked that age in rounds 3 & 4!
And it seems way more than 3 years that he's been out of Golf! How appropriate that I got an alarm about a post in the 'I'm getting Old' thread!

 

[BubbaP]

Could imagine fleeting shows until he hits senior (champions) tour, where if he still fancies it, and body allows, the courses are shorter and only 3 days.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

No and he won't ever get to the top of the game again and won't win another major. I think the reason he has already said he'll be at St Andrews is to say goodbye at the home of golf much like the likes of Nicklaus etc did

 

[Backsticks]

Could imagine fleeting shows until he hits senior (champions) tour, where if he still fancies it, and body allows, the courses are shorter and only 3 days.

Dont think he would go for the champions tour. Its beneath him. He doesnt need the money, and once winning real tournaments is beyond him, he will call it a day I think.

 

[Orikoru]

Dont think he would go for the champions tour. Its beneath him. He doesnt need the money, and once winning real tournaments is beyond him, he will call it a day I think.

What else would he do though? He won't suddenly lose his competitive edge, and playing Champions is better than nothing isn't it? I get what you're saying, but I can't see him just sitting back on his money either.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

There were a few times when watching that i thought that he actually looked a good bit older than 46…either the layoff, medication or just weariness. So yes he’s back, but I suspect not for that long.

Thinking he’ll do a Jones/Hogan and accept that his physical issues are maybe just telling him to hang up his regular competition boots and use his success and fame to advance the game and fix his name in the history of the game in ways other than ‘simply’ being a great player and great winner.

 

[Slab]

He's definitely back, I saw him on tellybox playing every day last week

I think The Open will be a far better measure for him to decide 'how much' is he back. If he's not able to do a tournament on a 'flat course' by July we may not see him very much at all after that

I don't see him ever doing seniors tour. He's got his course design thing/foundation thing and probably other things to keep him occupied (he might even build his own course and invite the worlds best players each year)

 

[Backsticks]

We else would he do though? He won't suddenly lose his competitive edge, and playing Champions is better than nothing isn't it? I get what you're saying, but I can't see him just sitting back on his money either.

I dont know. Maybe golf ambassador,, work with his charities, live a more normal family life much of which he has missed.
Seniors is a combination of handicapped golf, and exhibition golf. It just isnt seriously competitive enogh to be of interest to him I feel.

 

[Orikoru]

There were a few times when watching that i thought that he actually looked a good bit older than 46…either the layoff, medication or just weariness. So yes he’s back, but I suspect not for that long.

Thinking he’ll do a Jones/Hogan and accept that his physical issues are maybe just telling him to hang up his regular competition boots and use his success and fame to advance the game and fix his name in the history of the game in ways other than ‘simply’ being a great player and great winner.

It's genuinely a shock to me when he takes his cap off now as well. I think he has a few bob, he should go for one of those hair implant procedures. That would take years off him.

I dont know. Maybe golf ambassador,, work with his charities, live a more normal family life much of which he has missed.
Seniors is a combination of handicapped golf, and exhibition golf. It just isnt seriously competitive enogh to be of interest to him I feel.

I suppose competitive in the sense that it's a competition, but in another sense not because he'd probably win 9 out of 10 events. Langer would be annoyed to see him turn up. Then against Mickelson might give him a run for his money since he's really looked after himself.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Yes, he's back. He played.
He isn't as good as he was, but he played and made the cut, which plenty didn't manage.

 

[Yorkshire Hacker]

In all reality you could not expect Tiger to be ultra competitive at the Masters.
However, to me he showed glimpses of his absolute brilliance, unfortunately he just wasn't consistent. I reckon he will be having a good rest, and then come back fitter, and more ready and capable of taking on the current stars. I cannot accept that he is finished.......past his best, yes, but definitely not finished.
Fair play to him for turning up and putting on a pretty good performance. As has been stated, I bet there quite a few fellow competitors who wished they could have made the cut!!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

In all reality you could not expect Tiger to be ultra competitive at the Masters.
However, to me he showed glimpses of his absolute brilliance, unfortunately he just wasn't consistent. I reckon he will be having a good rest, and then come back fitter, and more ready and capable of taking on the current stars. I cannot accept that he is finished.......past his best, yes, but definitely not finished.
Fair play to him for turning up and putting on a pretty good performance. As has been stated, I bet there quite a few fellow competitors who wished they could have made the cut!!

Do you think he can manage it over 4 days on the trot though? At a flat course in warm weather then there is enough in him still to make the cut, perhaps even do well on day 3. Can his body manage day 4 though?

I don't think people doubt his golfing ability, although consistency is always an issue for sports people as they get older. Only he knows what his body felt like, whether it will cope better in the months to come as he gets stronger. Can he recover or is this as good as his leg is now?

 

[Deleted member 1418]

He's said a number of times he won't ever play a 'full' schedule again, not that he ever played a schedule similar to other top players anyway for a number of years.

So IMHO the question is can he ever be competitive (and by that i mean giving himself chmaces to win) given the schedule he does play. On the evidence of last week, in my mind that is no.

Personally think everyone needs to calm down and see how his body is the next time he tees it up. I doubt we'll really know until the Open. If the weather is favourable and he's not up challenging, then I think he's done in terms of challenging Jack's major record.

But who knows where he'll be in 12 months time.

 

[drdel]

The guy has made a great recovery to be as fit as he is. Unfortunately today's game is now a bit beyond him. A fantastic life of achievements for him and the game.

 

[Foxholer]

The guy has made a great recovery to be as fit as he is. Unfortunately today's game is now a bit beyond him. A fantastic life of achievements for him and the game.

Certainly a great recovery, so far. First round score shows he actually still has the capability to score well. Performance in The Open will, imo, demonstrate how much further progress he is capable of - and how long it will likely take. As has been posted already, St Andrews (and links courses in general) is/are nowhere near as demanding on the body as Augusta's rolling style.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We all understand that the old course is a much easier walk and Woods does have a couple of months to work on his fitness and his game so it isn't beyond the realms of possibility especially after a sub-par opening round at Augusta that he'll be able to it round and make the cut. As for being in contention, I think that's a step too far even for Woods with the depth of talent in the game at the moment

 

[Tashyboy]

I said after a couple of holes in the second round would he make the cut. He did but he scrambled for 2 rounds. I think his body is shattered and I hope he is not drugged up to the eyeballs with painkillers Trying to play golf.

 

[BigPhil14]

I'm going to go the other way to a lot here and say I think that whilst he is very obviously not the Tiger of old, or even semi recent past, he will be back in contention a few more times yet. Augusta was clearly a bit much too soon for him and his physical recovery isn't there yet to play 4 rounds on an undulating course with difficult lies the whole time. From what I have seen, this was the first time he's walked and played 4 rounds in 4 days (plus practice before) and will basically be a trial for him and his team to see what works and what doesnt work recovery wise and what they need to do to get him in a better position going forwards.

He's obviously not going to be playing often, and he may have rounds when his body just can't reach the level required (hilly courses or cold days), but I'm going to say that I can see on the right course in the right conditions, him having a few storybook endings to come, much like he did in 2019.

 

[howbow88]

We else would he do though? He won't suddenly lose his competitive edge, and playing Champions is better than nothing isn't it? I get what you're saying, but I can't see him just sitting back on his money either.

Listening to the podcast Steve Williams is doing about Tiger at the moment, he mentioned that all Tiger really cared about was winning majors. He said something along the lines of Tiger saw tour events as good practice for the majors and he obviously still wanted to win them, but not as much as the majors.

So after everything he has gone through over the last 15 years, both mentally and physically, will he want to bother with the Champions Tour? I'm not so sure to be honest. I'm going to guess he'll play St Andrews and that might be that.