Tiger’s back! And by that, we mean Woods has recovered well enough from spine surgery to return to competitive action next week at Congressional Country Club.
Tiger Woods’ return steals spotlight from Michelle Wie’s comeback run at U.S. Women’s Open
Tiger Woods announces he will return to competitive golf, stealing the show from Michelle Wie, who heads into the weekend at Pinehurst atop the U.S. Women’s Open leaderboard.
David Cannon
The announcement, made on his Facebook page on Friday, said that he will take the field in the Quicken Loans National tournament that benefits his foundation. However, it took attention away from another potentially huge comeback story unfolding in the world of golf: fellow Stanford Cardinal Michelle Wie fired a second straight 2-under 68 at Pinehurst to take a three-shot lead heading into the weekend of the U.S. Women’s Open.
All in all, a pretty solid week for the former Stanford standouts.
“Yeah, I can’t complain,” Wie told reporters after ending Friday’s second round with two straight birdies.
“End of the day yesterday, I was thinking if I just did this again, that would be nice,” said Wie, who won the LPGA Lotte Championship in Hawaii and has notched seven additional top-10s this season after two disappointing campaigns in 2012 and 2013. ‘‘But always finishing with two birdies is always great. It’s a grind out there. It’s not easy. Really grateful for the par putts that I made and some of the birdie putts that I made. I can’t complain. I’ll take it.’’
With Lexi Thompson matching Wie’s 68 on Friday and the only other player under par after 36 holes, the weekend was shaping up as a rematch between the two contenders in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first major of the year. Thompson got the better of her final-round playing partner in that go-round and Wie was well aware that much could happen before the trophy ceremony.
“Sunday is a very, very long time, far away,” she said. “Just take it shot by shot. You really can’t think about Sunday, 18th hole, now. You have 36 holes to play. So I’m just going to go out there and just try and do what I did the last two days and just focus on every shot and try not to think too much about the past or the future, just really try to stay in the present.”
Wie, nevertheless, was pleased to be back in the hunt for her first major title.
’‘I knew I could get better. I knew I could improve,” Wie said. “But that’s the game of golf. I think that’s what’s so fun about it. You work hard, you work hard, it’s a challenging game. You can never quite perfect it. I love working on my game. I love working on different shots. Just trying to get better every day. I never really lost a sense of determination or drive.’’
On the men’s side, Woods is also ready to show that he can get better. The former world No. 1, who has been stuck at 14 major championships for six years, will use his reentry next week to work his way back into fighting form for the remaining grand slam events of the season.
Photo credit: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
“After a lot of therapy I have recovered well and will be supporting my foundation next week at the Quicken Loans National,” Woods said Friday. “I’ve just started to hit full shots but it’s time to take the next step.
Should his back hold up, Woods will take his game to two venues where he has had success in the past. He won his 11th major at Royal Liverpool, the 2006 Open Championship, and his fifth at Valhalla in 2000, the site of this year’s PGA Championship.
In addition to his status for the fall FedExCup playoff series, Woods’ availability for the Ryder Cup in September remains uncertain. He is 67th in Ryder Cup points but U.S. captain Tom Watson has said he would make a healthy Tiger one of his three wild-card picks for the contest at Gleneagles.
“I will be a bit rusty but I want to play myself back into competitive shape,” said Woods, who had microdiscectomy surgery on March 31 and made his last start on March 9. “Excited for the challenge ahead.”
"I’m so pumped," Keegan Bradley said. "A no-Tiger Tour is not the same. We need Tiger. The whole Tour needs Tiger and golf needs Tiger."
So, too, are golf fans, who wondered if they would see Woods swing a club again this year, especially since he had been limited to chipping and putting and he regularly said he could not provide a timetable for his return other than he hoped to be back sometime this summer. His rehab apparently moved along swiftly after word got out earlier this week that he was able to take full swings, leading to Friday’s announcement and glee among his peers and golf watchers everywhere.
“I’m so pumped,” 2011 PGA champion Keegan Bradley told Jason Sobel. “It’s great news for golf and great news for the Tour. A no-Tiger Tour is not the same. … We need Tiger. The whole Tour needs Tiger and golf needs Tiger.”
Pontificators were equally thrilled to learn of the imminent return of the PGA Tour’s cash cow.
“It is great news,” Brandel Chamblee, a Golf Channel analyst and frequent Tiger critic, said Friday. “He is the most impactful player in the terms of interest and ratings in the history of golf. There is nobody that even comes close to filling that void.”
Chamblee’s colleague, Frank Nobilo, was also enthusiastic about welcoming Woods back to the game, which has suffered plummeting TV ratings since Tiger went on the shelf.
“It is great news for golf,” Nobilo said. “I think it is the shot in the arm that we need.”
Now back to you, Michelle.
