On Monday 30th of October, news broke out that shook the golfing world. Tiger Woods is back. By Ben Whitlock
Golfing World Reacts To Tiger's Return
Via a tweet, the fourteen time major winner announced that he was going to make an appearance at the Hero World Challenge.
The tournament, that is being played in the Bahamas, runs from November 30-December 3.
It will be Tiger's first appearance in a tour event since early February, after his reoccurring back injuries forced him to withdraw from the Dubai Desert Classic.
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Following this injury, Woods had his fourth back surgery in April.
Fans and fellow tour players alike deemed it highly unlikely that the American would be seen again in 2017.
Justin Rose, who too has had his fair share of back injuries, offered his thoughts on Woods' most recent comeback.
“You can tell that he's beginning to get some confidence back in his body. And obviously with that, confidence will come back in his golf game," he said.
"I think that is just fantastic for the golf world to see him back healthy and out of pain.”
Whilst playing at the Presidents Cup last month, fellow American Charley Hoffman said that he had "zero" idea he would be in a field with Tiger so quickly.
“There were times, playing ping pong or doing whatever, where you could tell he had movement but that he wasn’t fully healed yet,” Hoffman said.
The ever charismatic Bubba Watson revealed the inner fan in himself when asked about Woods return.
He said "“When Tiger Woods says he’s going to play again, how would you not love it? You always want your legends to keep playing. It’s a sad day when they hang it up."
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Kevin Na elaborated on Bubba's excitement, but added that he thinks Tiger wont get back to his incredible best.
“I’m excited he’s coming back. He’s a living legend, obviously.
"Hopefully, he plays to the level that – to be honest, I don’t think he’ll ever get back to the level he once played at - but, you know, good enough to where he plays."
Phil Mickelson took to social media too to express his excitement for the return of Tiger.
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His tweet read "To have him back playing is huge for the sport."
In the golfing world, being "ready" and being "tournament ready" are two very different things.
Tiger himself has said countless times before that the only way for him to get "tournament ready" is to play in actual tournaments.
While fans and golfing colleagues worldwide eagerly anticipate the return of one of the all time greats, Tiger himself will know he has a long way to go to get back to the top.
But if anyone was to get back up there, it would be Tiger Woods.
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