Roundup: The Early Tiger Opening Week Reviews Are In

I'll open with my 800 words for Golfweek that includes an assessment from Nick Faldo and my view that the success here sets us up for a new Tiger in many ways, including a Limited Schedule Tiger. And that's just fine. Worked for Hogan.

Rex Hoggard of GolfChannel.com found Woods’s Sunday round strangely predictable but is overall positive, with some assessment from caddie Joe LaCava as well.

Bob Harig of ESPN.com considered the week a hit with Woods finishing injury free. He also features some thoughts from LaCava.

Tiger Tracker actually files an assessment as well. TT's middle name is not Tont, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Tiger's next start beyond the Genesis Open is not clear.

Round four highlights for Tiger:

Comments

[Swingtheclubken]

when the putter goes looks like he goes not a fan of Tigers at all but I am a strong believer that he needs to play a lot more often if he ever has any intention of contending again. How long do the networks plan to milk the Tiger cow if he continues to play like he did this week thats my two cents.

[Random Fan]

Tiger trended up, and Phil trended down. Happy for Tiger, not happy for Phil. Would love to see them both in the winner's circle in 2018.

[Bogey]

All in all it was a good as anyone could have expected, he hasn't really played meaningful golf for more than two years and was in the tourney on Sunday, he cleans up some of the wildness and gets into a good routine he will win again, and he could win a major, something I thought he had zero chance to do 3 months ago.

[Figgster]

So is this weekend's Tiger-fest an indication of how TV coverage of golf will unfold in 2018? Will the overwhelming focus be on an obviously over-the-hill 42 year old former great? Will the fate of golf rely on whether Tiger decides to enter a tourney? In April, will I have to watch Tiger, 8 shots back, drinking water on 17 while Dustin Johnson and Rory tee off at the famous 12th at Augusta, uncovered except for a tape-delayed retrospective look?

There seems to be a certain desperation in the coverage at the top of the golf world, at least in the USA. What if the NFL decided to rely on a comeback by Brett Favre to revitalize that league's sagging ratings?: We would all cry how ridiculous that is, yet here we are....

I understand the reality the PGA and the networks are dealing with; there are livelihoods relying on the ability to achieve a certain level of viewership. Still, there's something distinctly disconcerting about so many eggs being placed in the Tiger Woods basket. The commentators are trying so hard to make a case for Tiger's viability... it's tough to stomach.

But, I suppose he could pull it together and actually compete at some point against the world's best. Guess we'll just have to see.

[Booyahs]

Tiger's looking pretty good. Ball speeds are up. Putter is very strong. Wedges look good. He hits it straight enough to contend at Augusta!

[Patches O'Houlihan]

Compared to most recent Tiger, who if he wasn't Tiger wouldn't have kept playing status, this was pretty good. If -10 wins and you're -3, it's at least functional professional golf. Especially since he didn't drive it in the fairway. Decent score playing defense all week.

[Smooth]

Chipping and his lag putting was pretty good. He hit it sideways off the tee on a course that’s not demanding off the tee as you can always find it. I look forward to watching him drive it where accuracy off the tee is paramount.

[TampaGolfer]

I don't know What you were watching Figgster. I tuned in at 3:00 and watched the last 56 seconds of Michigan St- Maryland until 3:15. Then when CBS finally cut over to golf, most of the coverage was on the leaders. Did they cut to Tiger every now and then? Of course they did, but not in the fan-boy fawning fashion that you portray. Oh, and btw, he came in 23rd and had a chance on the back nine to get near the top of the leaderboard. Not bad for an "obviously over the hill 42 year old former great." Why don't you cut the guy a break.

[GCADG]

Brett Favre? You'd have to swap a Joe Montana plus a Tom Brady and then throw in a Johnny Unitas in order to get one Tiger Woods.

[Bjorn Hoogan]

I remember a time, before Tiger, when the Tour was doing its boring thing and they'd cover the old and aging legends because it was still fun to see them. I don't seem to remember much whining about it, though.

[Ivan Morris]

With a 69 on the horizon - the constant missing of fairways caught up with Tiger but you'd have to be somewhat impressed by this performance and be curious about the future. He simply has to find somebody to help him figure out how to drive his ball onto the fairway 80% of the time. It's not that hard a task. Tiger has two big decisions to make and only he can make them: do I play more tournaments or a limited schedule? Who do I ask to help me sort out my driving? Winning a tournament is closer but still a long way off.

[Tremendous Slouch]

Bjorn Hoogan ,

Agreed. There was very little griping on social media back in the 70’s and 80’s.

[BDF]

His short game was way better than expected. If he can figure out how to hit fairways, he will win somewhere. Not at the clip he used to, of course, but to shoot -3 from where he hit it is nothing short of astonishing. The haters will hate, but Tiger was certainly entertaining.

[Shivas]

He has won 7 times on that course, excluding the US Open and amateur events. He's about as comfy there as anyone is in the world at any course. That's why the chipping and putting was so good. Comfort.

That said, I think Patches's description was perfect: functional professional golf.

But that and $3.50 gets you a medium latte at Starbucks.

[John]

$55 does seem a little steep for a general-admission ticket. Or maybe I just haven't had to buy a ticket to a golf tournament in a long time.

[Zimmer]

If he remains healthy, Tiger will finish in the top 5 at the Masters.

[Sari]

As I said on an earlier post: If you're an optimist, there was plenty of reasons for you to be happy. If you're a pessimist, plenty of reasons for you to feel vindicated. This is going to be very interesting. I will say that the putting stroke looks as good as it ever has been, and especially under the gun of having to make a cut on Friday. If that holds up, all it will take is a week where the timing of his swing is on for him to legitimately contend. Should be interesting.

[BrianS]

Considering there were probably months on end where Tiger was not allowed to full swing but could do chipping and putting, I am not sure why it is so surprising that he had those things dialed in pretty well. HIs sparse playing schedule will hurt him - both in terms of getting practice for the majors as well as giving him opportunities to win and/or post good results against less than maximum field strengths. An interesting item is that there are 2 WGCs between now and the Masters, but Tiger is not (currently) qualified to enter either one of them.

[meefer]

Good for him. See you when it matters.

[Shivas]

Zimmer: if Tiger is top 5 in the Masters, he wins the Masters just like everybody gagged their brains out for Nicklaus in 86.

[Matt H.]

On Sunday it seemed like the swing was more in sync than on Saturday. The wind on Sunday made it tougher to compare results. I didn't mind the CBS coverage though I wonder if it was coincidence he made the turn right after the leaders finished the first hole. Easy to keep the cameras near him. Lots of waiting with the JB Holmes group.

Overall, I think his driving is not coming around this year. If his back stays intact, maybe in the future.