TW has been eligible to play in all majors for the last 20 yrs. because he has won the most of them and has been exempt for all in that period.(I may be a year off.) There are not too many players on the PGA that can say the same, and of those that get to play in those major events, very few are eligible to all of them every year. This does give TW a big advantage over the vast majority of the entries. He's very familiar will all the venues they play those tournaments at. Again, maybe only a handful could say that. Everyone always says 'courses for horses', so why would anyone think he could not win any/many more majors? They are 'just' another tournament on the schedule, and are played at courses he is very familiar with, and obviously likes(see 14 wins). If his swing is even close to what it was, and it didn't look none too shabby for a 15-16 mo. layoff, and he is healthy at entry, and brings that must kill attitude, at 40+, I think he'll do just fine in the majors.
Keeping in mind he won a few of those when he played a game that looked like crap, or was hurting a bit.

There are a lot of players out there that want him to return healthy, with his game at 100% of what it used to be. They want to use how they fare against him as a yardstick of their own game. That amazes me. Be damn careful of what you wish for.

    Par4QC

    No one stirred up the golf scene like TW in recent years.
    Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan ( post injury ), Arnold Palmer and Jack precede him and he was supposed to up held the banner until he got struck with his own 2 iron.

    I believe golfers in general will forgive him if his game could return to half of what it used to be. Limping and struggling as he may, he still has the game if he could put 4 good days together. If Ben Hogan could return to the game after the injury with a modified golf swing and still win major tournaments, so could TW.

      Dude had 24 birdies last week. Of course, he also had 6 double bogeys. But here's the way I see it... it's a helluva lot easier to turn double-bogeys into bogeys, or even maybe pars, than it is to average 6 birdies per round. You gotta be able to make birdies to win at that level, and he has to take some satisfaction from that, especially considering the length of his layoff.

      That aside, ultimately it comes down to him being able to stay healthy and play. It's much too early in the process to be talking about major championships, because one week, as promising as it looked at times, doesn't automatically mean he's ready to take on the world again. If he can stay healthy for a season - that's a good start. If he were somehow able to win a tournament, regardless of the strength of field, it goes from good to great. Then maybe at that point and time it would be more legitimate to talk about his chances in major tournaments.

      But he can't be too upset with the good stuff he showed last week. There was a lot more good than bad imo.

        PA-PLAYA Dude had 24 birdies last week. Of course, he also had 6 double bogeys.

        Sounds like a mental error where he plunged into doubles, or he was just testing the limit of his current ability ?

            Release

            For the most part it was a result of driving the ball into trouble , which was always his nemesis ( he just recovered better than anyone else). This was a very forgiving course off the tee and Tiger only hit 55% of fairways. He struggled more on the back nine ( as did the entire field) where the wind was more hurting, the wind accentuates swing flaws and errors.

            I'd hazard a guess that his mental and physical stamina wasn't there after the layoff. Likewise though for all the other players this event was the last in a very long season so they would be fatigued and drained , looking forward to their brief break and probably not at their best either .

            overall a good return -4 over four days so averaged under par each day, and as I've said, better than most ( probably Tiger too) expected. Iron play and putting were really good.

            The biggest takeaway, he played injury and pain free and was taking some huge rips at the ball in round 4. Will be interesting to see how he does at Torry Pines

                brsmith banging every waitress in the ladies bathroom.

                Holy crap, hope he nevers plays in NC. Might run into problems.

                Then again, he might like it.

                  Weirfan
                  i'm taking that Friday of the Farmer's off so I can play in the morning and be at Torrey for the afternoon. That's such a great place. Gonna attend Saturday as well. Following Tiger there is a fruitless enterprise however so I won't try. Unless you like standing in a 7 deep gallery. Which I don't.

                      mcavoy At least you don't have to worry about Steve Williams grabbing your camera.

                        mcavoy

                        Best place to catch Tiger is at the range. Went to his AT&T National event when it was hosted at Aronimink back in 2010, because Congressional (the usual host site) was in the process of undergoing preparations for the upcoming US Open.

                        The first thing that struck me was damn - this guy isn't nearly as big as he looks on television. The second thing that struck me was that (at least toward us) he was friendly. As he was walking past us to the putting green - he smiled at me and my wife and nodded as we wished him well for his upcoming round and he actually said "thank you!"

                        My wife would've undoubtedly cuckolded me at that moment to be #14 in the recent scandalous progression, but I digress.... she's never met a pro athlete that she wouldn't ditch me for, with exception of maybe John Daly.

                        Don't know whether to fault her for that or give her a medal....


                          Very little is being made about Tiger playing the Bridgestone ball last week. Not only did Nike's "Method" putter suck, but apparently their ball did too.

                            mcavoy

                            Make sure you stand by the fairway bunker on #10 and tell the pros how to hole out from it. Still one of the top 5 shots I have ever witnessed.

                                Observation from Jack Nicklaus, " talent is still there ".

                                PA-PLAYA the rumor, for years, has been that his Nike golf balls have always been made by B'stone.

                                    LBlack14

                                    Very well might be. Who knows.

                                    I personally found the Nike One ball (when it first came out) to feel heavier. Not sure there's a better way to explain it... I'm sure the specs with all of the other balls were pretty much the same or nearly the same, but for whatever reason this ball just didn't seem to travel as far as the other balls I played back then.

                                    And when the B330 first came out I bought a sleeve of them, and just like the Nike One ball - the B330 felt heavy too.

                                    Might just be a coincidence, or maybe there's more to it.

                                      Mattyv Thanks for not mentioning the double I made on 11.....oops

                                        agree. Played well and seemed happier on the course.