Monday morning and the headline deluge began.
Bookies: Tiger favorite at Masters
The list goes on.
Riding a wave of support from the galleries and many in the golf community , Woods got the job done on Saturday at the . And he did so in his convincing old Tiger fashion.
Wearing his Sunday red, he went toe to toe with Graeme McDowell, shot 2-under for the day and emerged a winner by five strokes at 13-under.
If you had a chance to watch any of the tourney (I didn't play golf this weekend because I was too distracted with hoops and golf on the television), you would have witnessed the final pieces of Woods' game coming together.
His fairway accuracy. His greens in regulation. His clutch putting. His touch around the greens. His shot shaping. His distance with the driver. His swagger. His confidence.
You can call it a fluke if you choose, but I knew and have posted previously that he would be back. And the rest of the field on tour, including McDowell, knows it.
Said McDowell on Sunday:
Great to have a front-row seat watching maybe the greatest of all time doing what he does best winning golf tournaments.
Will he win ? If he did, I wouldn't be surprised. If he plays the way he did at Bay Hill he should.
Professional golf has been interesting since Woods began his downward spiral and players such as McDowell, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, etc. have intermittently rose to the top on tour. But it has been missing an electricity that was clearly evident Sunday afternoon. The television rating was up 129 percent over last year's coverage.
The chants that erupted as Woods approached the green on 18 gave me chills. You could see the throngs of fans from blimp-view scurrying into place to savor their slice of history their chance to witness live the comeback complete.
It was a stage Woods knew oh so well, where he has won sevens times now. How apropos that it would be on Arnold Palmer's turf that he would launch his return to winning on the PGA circuit, where he hasn't won since fall of 2009. Yes, it has been that long.
I'm glad Woods has found his winning form. I don't see it as a blip. I see it as momentum heading toward Augusta. I see it as a resurgence for a golfer with an incredible 72 victories on the PGA tour. A golfer who has an unbelievable winning percentage when it comes to leading going into Sunday. A golfer who is overdue.
The only thing missing from Woods' victory on Sunday was a congratulatory greeting from Palmer, who was hospitalized with high blood pressure issues. (On an upbeat note, he's expected to be released from the hospital today.)
Who knows? Arnie just might get another chance to watch Woods hoist that trophy next year.
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