Love him or hate him, Tiger Woods knows how to draw a crowd. Woods boosted the popularity of the PGA Tour when he dominated pro golf early in his career. Nothing would mean more to PGA Tour executives and golf fans than to have Woods regain his peak form on the course once again.
Woods announced on his personal website on Jan. 9 that he intends to make his 2012 PGA debut at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Tournament. The tournament is scheduled to go from Feb. 9-12 and will mark Woods’ first pro competition at Pebble Beach since 2002.
Going up against a bunch of amateur golfers is not the best way to start off the year. Given his recent struggles, Woods would be best served by selecting PGA events right out of the gate where he can expect to face a genuine challenge from other elite golfers.
A two-year drought of victories plagued Woods until he snapped the 107 week-long streak in his final tournament of the 2011 season at the Chevron World Challenge last December. He is still winless in PGA sanctioned events going back to September 2009. Woods has not been in top form since his highly publicized infidelity destroyed his marriage to Elin Nordegren in late 2009.
Woods is still young enough to rebound and make his charge at overtaking Jack Nicklaus as the career leader for overall PGA Tour victories and major victories. He already has 71 PGA Tour titles and 14 major championships to his credit.
If he hopes to challenge those records held by Nicklaus, these things need to happen after Pebble Beach in February:
Stay healthy:
Left knee and ankle injuries sidelined Woods for extended periods during the 2011 season. He showed his rust during the times he was on the course, producing one uncharacteristically bad round after another. Woods is healthy again and needs to stay that way if he wants to regain his form.
Regain a mental edge:
If Woods wants to get golfers thinking about what he will do on the course instead of focusing on their own game, he needs to put up a challenge and give them a reason to worry about him once again. Woods has always been a superior athlete compared to many golfers, but his ability to get inside the heads of his opponents helped him get extra victories every season during his most dominant years on the tour.
Compete in more tournaments:
The best thing for Woods to do is to test himself. He needs to enter as many of the top PGA tournaments as he can enter. Playing an increased number of rounds on the best courses against stiff competition is the best way to get back in a groove. Woods needs to break free from his traditionally abbreviated PGA schedule until he proves himself again.
John Coon enjoys getting in a round from time to time in the Salt Lake City area when he is not covering golf as a freelance sports reporter.