Tiger Woods' return to action causing a stir in United States
Monday 10 October 2016 20:09, UK
Tiger Woods' return to competitive golf at the Safeway Open this week after 14 months out with injuries is causing a huge stir in America.
Woods has had to undergo surgery on his back three times since his last tournament, the Wyndham Championship in August last year.
But he is now fit to play at the Napa event and could - if reports from California are true - be paired with his old rival and friend Phil Mickelson.
The Golf Channel's Damon Hack said: "Tiger's return is huge. We just did two hours on 'Morning Drive' talking about Tiger.
"I know several reporters who normally would be covering American Football this week but they're taking a different turn - they're going out to Napa, California to cover Tiger Woods' return after over a year.
"A lot of us are anxious to see what he has at age 40, with all these back surgeries and knee surgeries, his Achilles…he's been such a dominant player but that dominant play has been absent for the last three years.
"There is a lot of intrigue here in the US in terms of what we expect to see. We just don't really know."
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Woods was a vice-captain of the victorious USA Ryder Cup team and Hack says that the former world No 1 did not look 100 per cent fit.
"A lot of our Golf Channel folk were out at Hazeltine last week for the Ryder Cup and they said he looked a little bit stiff," he said.
"He looked strong but he wasn't necessarily moving very well. That's going to be the big question. At the age of 40 can he stand the rigours of PGA Tour life…hitting the balls he needs to, practising, travelling, playing?"
Hack believes Woods will measure success in Napa purely in terms of his physical state at the end of it.
"If he can get out of Napa without having to go off in a golf cart, without any chipping woes, that would be a huge step," he said.
"But he has to look at this as a first step in a long process. Too many people expect him to be a top 10-type of player this weekend, or to win the tournament. This is a toe into the swimming pool.
"If he can walk away from the Safeway Open, either on Friday or Sunday, under his own power and in good health, that's a successful week."
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