In only his third tournament back from reconstructive knee surgery that has kept him out for ten months, it is fair to assume that the world’s number one player is back. Tiger definitely looked rusty in his first two outings and early in his third until he pulled it together for his first victory since his heroic win at the U.S. Open last year.
Tiger had to go six months without hitting the ball with power while he was rehabbing his knee, but it was evident that he had still kept that immaculate touch on the greens and had worked hard on his short game. He hit three amazing shots out of the sand on Sunday to keep himself in contention as he put together his furious comeback. He was down five strokes to begin Sunday’s final round but was luckily in second place. This put him in the final group where he could let his presence be felt. It was obvious that Sean O’Hair was intimidated by Tiger’s prowl.
Tiger quickly made us believe that he could tie his largest comeback deficit as he closed the gap to two strokes after playing only three holes. He started to look like his old self, shaping shots perfectly, draining important puts and stomping around the course with that swagger that only Tiger has.
O’Hair finally pulled it together and kept his lead until the fifteenth hole. That is when the crowd reacted to Tiger pulling even with O’Hair with an atomic roar. At that point, there was a look in Tiger’s eyes almost as if he was thriving on the pressure. He took a one stroke lead on the sixteenth hole as O’Hair found the drink and was forced to take a drop. Continue reading →