Tiger Woods: Is the comeback real or hype?

Tiger Woods: Is the comeback real or hype?

Haley Lyss,
Contributor

It’s been almost nine years since Tiger Woods’ infamous car crash outside of his home on Thanksgiving. A product of his infidelity, it was also what most consider to be the beginning of his fall from the top of the sport of golf.

Injury and scandal have frequently defined his career for the last 10 years. With multiple knee surgeries, four back surgeries in the last three years and his last which was a spinal fusion surgery that was completed just 11 months ago. Tiger’s most recent scandal comes from an arrest on suspicion of D.U.I. last May, which put him in rehab.

Now preparing for the most prominent tournament in golf The Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, which starts tomorrow, this is only his second appearance in the tournament since he finished in the top five in 2013.

He is favored behind powerhouses Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas. Tiger’s appearance has already skyrocketed ticket prices for the event with prices now over six grand for a Thursday through Sunday ticket. TV ratings are expected to skyrocket as well. During the Honda Classic, Golf Channel was the top sports cable network from 1 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. which was up by 103 percent even with NASCAR, the Winter Olympics and the NBA running at the same time, according to ESPN.

Despite this the headlines read differently now, with many describing what could be the greatest comeback in all of sports.

Tiger has 79 PGA Tour victories, but none since 2013 and his last major win in 2008. He has won PGA Tour player of the year a record 11 times and won his first green jacket at only 21 years old back in 1997. At 42 years old, most can’t compete at the same level that they once did, but that’s not the case for Tiger. It’s not that he’s back to his healthy younger self. Instead, it’s that he is seemingly better than ever. What changed?

It’s been five years since his last tour win, and 10 since his last major win.

All eyes are on Tiger this weekend. With his biggest comeback to date, there is no doubt that the sports world is going to be glued to the TV screen to see if the hype of Tiger Woods’ comeback is real. No matter the outcome of this tournament, Woods’ return to golf has been the most talked about and analyzed comeback we have seen.