Tiger Woods makes his return to the PGA Tour in two weeks at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, and, unlike his brief comeback at the beginning of 2017, there is serious optimism for how the 14-time major champ will fare.
Count veteran pro Zach Johnson among the figures who thinks we might see glimpses of vintage Tiger on the course when he returns.
“If he’s playing well and he’s healthy then there’s no individual in the world who amazes me more than him on the golf course,” Johnson said after his second round at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Johnson remembers what it was like when the entire Tour took a joint beating from Woods for more than a decade. It was a rare era for a sport often dominated by a few big names at a time (think Nicklaus/Palmer/Player or Norman/Ballesteros/Couples). Johnson remembers, sure, but he also knows none of the current crop of phenoms on Tour do, and he’d like them all to get a feel for it in person.
“I’d love to have these young guys that are dominating the game have a piece, just one year of what we experienced.”
With the likes of Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy (to name a few) playing inspired golf in the prime of their careers, it would be somehting else to see them go up against a genuinely competitive Tiger.
