It鈥檚 a testament to Tiger Woods鈥 continued pull that he was the subject of multiple pressers at the Australian Open over the weekend. Never mind that he wasn鈥檛 part of the field, or that he hasn鈥檛 wielded a club in competition since February. As far as all and sundry were concerned, he remained extremely relevant; even as a tournament was at stake, the state of his game drew interest, in no small measure because of the questions on his progress from a fourth back surgery in April.
To be sure, Woods has earned the benefit of the doubt. True, he has made multiple comebacks over the last half decade, and suffered from setbacks more frequently than not. On the other hand, his unparalleled body of work invariably elicits optimism regarding his future. Forget that he鈥檚 about to turn 42, that his body is more brittle than majority of players on the Champions Tour, and that the sport鈥檚 fickle nature makes hitting the ground running difficult.
And so Woods will tee off at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas later this week with all eyes on him, and most everybody save for his staunchest critics hoping against hope that he will redeem himself with sterling scores. The conditions certainly benefit him; he faces just 17 others in a silly-season event he hosts for his foundation, so there should be little to no pressure for him to exert himself beyond limitations set forth by doctors monitoring his convalescence. It also helps that he didn鈥檛 rush back from his latest brush with the knife; he didn鈥檛 get to swing his driver until last month, in full compliance with orders.
That said, Woods will aim to do his best this weekend. He always does. And though he won鈥檛 say it out loud, he鈥檒l be gunning for a win. Nobody expects him to, but nobody will count it out, either. After all, he is who he is, a great in golf鈥檚 past out to prove that he has a place in its future.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.
