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Conflicting reports on when Tiger will return

Anthony Stalter — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:40:10 +0000

There have been conflicting reports over the last two days about when and where Tiger Woods will make his return to the PGA Tour. Yesterday, the New York Post reported that Woods would play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in two weeks, but now the Associated Press says that Tiger wouldn’t return until the Masters.

From ESPN.com:

Meanwhile, Woods’ longtime friend, Mark O’Meara, told the Golf Channel Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Woods played during the Tavistock Cup, a competition between two high-profile golf clubs in Orlando where several prominent PGA Tour players are members. The tournament is scheduled for March 22-23 at Isleworth.

The event would be a good way for Woods to ease back into competitive play, O’Meara told the Golf Channel.

Woods has been practicing at Isleworth near his Orlando home the last two weeks, and swing coach Hank Haney flew there during the weekend to work with him. That led to speculation Thursday he was close to playing again.

Well, what will it be, Tiger? Do you want a small (Tavistock), medium (Arnold Palmer Invitational) or big (the Masters) stage when you return to golf? Last week I predicted that he would return to the Masters and make a big splash, but the other two events make sense as well.

It never ceases to amaze me how the focus has now turned to Tiger’s return to golf. It’s prove that the media and we as an American public have a short attention span and will move onto the next big storyline as soon as humanly possible. For months the headlines were about Tiger bumping uglies with porn stars and him going to sex therapy, now we’re trying to figure out when he’ll return to golf. Amazing.

Update: TMZ has put some clues together and it appears that Woods will make his comeback at the Tavistock. Nothing has been confirmed yet, however.

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Tiger to make his return March 25 at Bay Hill?

Anthony Stalter — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:10:31 +0000

According to a report by FOXSports.com, Tiger Woods is targeting the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 25 at Bill Hill in Orlando to make his return to the PGA Tour.

Two sources in the golf community told The New York Post that Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary to Pres. George W. Bush and the man who was brought in to help repair the steroid-shattered image of Mark McGwire, has been huddling with Woods, plotting a strategy for his return to golf — at the Arnold Palmer Invitational starting March 25 at Bay Hill in Orlando.

“They were in his living room this week going over a strategy for how to handle Bay Hill in two weeks,” one source said.

The other source told The Post, “I would be shocked if he didn’t play the Arnold Palmer .”

Palmer himself reportedly has told some close confidants that Woods is definitely playing Bay Hill. Quietly, the people running the tournament are preparing for a larger-than-usual media crush.

Last week I made a prediction that Tiger would make his return at the Masters on April 8th, or play in whatever tournament occurs the week before the Masters. Bay Hill is the last tournament before the Masters.

It makes sense that Woods would want to knock the rust off his game before he played in a major, so I wouldn’t doubt it if this report were true and his return is at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It’ll be interesting to see how his team will choose to handle the media when he’s not out on the course.

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Olbermann/Simmons feud goes on

John Paulsen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:04:06 +0000

More than a few people took exception to Bill Simmons’ decision to compare Tiger Woods’ upcoming comeback to that of Muhammad Ali, and Olbermann is one of them. The two are having a Twitter/blog war.

Deadspin has the details.

Discussing Tiger’s comeback

John Paulsen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:30:05 +0000

Bill Simmons wrote a long column that compares Tiger’s eventual comeback to those of some of sport’s other iconic athletes. One point jumped out at me…

At gunpoint, if I could wager on any conceivable scenario, I would wager on Tiger coming back in severe Eff You Mode, like a seething MJ in Game 1 of the 1992 Finals. The greatest ones have a way of channeling negativity and fueling it toward whatever makes them great. Jordan made a habit of it. So did Ali. But they were also larger-than-life personalities, whereas Tiger was always just someone who was freakishly good at golf and that’s it.

I can see Tiger coming back with a vengeance, but basketball (and boxing, for that matter) is unlike golf in that pure effort and energy can overcome one’s opponent. Typically, in basketball, an athletically inferior team can be victorious if they outhustle its opponent. Defense, rebounding, loose balls — success in these areas depends largely on a team’s effort. So if MJ’s shot wasn’t falling, he could take his “Eff You Mode” and apply it elsewhere and dominate the game. And when the best athlete on the court is playing harder than anyone else, good things will happen.

I don’t think Tiger can do that in golf. Effort is only going to matter when he’s practicing, and while this is vitally important to a successful comeback, effort is not going to matter much when it comes time to play a tournament. Golf is a game of millimeters, and passion isn’t going to help much when titles are on the line. If channeled, this passion and determination can help in the form of focus, but there is also the chance that Tiger becomes too focused and it pushes him off the rails.

Whatever happens, it’s going to be interesting to watch.

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Did “Yes, Dear” predict Tiger Woods scandal? [video]

John Paulsen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:00:36 +0000

That’s just eerie…

Credit Bill Simmons’s reader (Will in Boston) for finding the clip.

Daly reveals reporter’s cell number on Twitter

Anthony Stalter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:00:49 +0000

That crazy John Daly is at it again, having fun and seeking revenge via Twitter.

From FOXSports.com:

John Daly was so irritated that a Florida newspaper wrote about his PGA Tour disciplinary file that he referred to the writer as a “jerk” on Twitter and posted the writer’s cell phone number for his followers to call.

The Florida Times-Union reported Tuesday that the file is now public record through Daly’s unsuccessful libel lawsuit against the newspaper. The file is 456 pages and notes that Daly has been suspended five times and cited 21 times for not giving his best effort.

“here’s the JERK who writes NON-NEWS article on debut of my show — CALL & FLOOD his line & let’s tell him how WE feel,” Daly said on Twitter, adding the cell phone number of golf writer Garry Smits.

Smits, the golf writer for the Times-Union, said he received about 30 calls after a series of three tweets late Tuesday night, and nearly 100 calls by early Wednesday afternoon. Smits said most of the callers hang up, and about 30 left messages.

“His fans are very unhappy,” Smits said.

If I were an exclusive golf writer, I would stay as far from John Daly as humanly possible. Either that, or I would quit my job so I could party with him at all times because you’re bound to see something interesting.

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Tiger out of therapy, getting back into shape

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:15:22 +0000

ESPN.com is reporting that Tiger Woods is back home after undergoing a week of family counseling in Arizona. Woods’ next mission is to get back into shape so that he can return to golf.

Woods returned to his home near Orlando on Saturday and has been hitting balls on the range at Isleworth, not far from where he ran his SUV into a tree in a middle-of-the-night accident on Nov. 27 that set off revelations of his extramarital affairs.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because only Woods is authorized to release information about his schedule, said there is still no timetable for golf’s No. 1 player to return to competition.

News of him getting back into a routine is sure to begin speculation when he might return to the PGA Tour. Woods announced on Dec. 4 that he was taking an “indefinite break” to try to salvage his marriage.

Does anyone else smell an April 8th return for Tiger? That’s the first day of the Masters and while I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of him playing in a smaller tournament or two before then, I’m willing to bet that Tiger would want to create some good publicity for himself on a big stage.

Of course, no matter what tournament he decides to play in, his return will be front-page news. But what better way for the PGA to draw viewers than to have Tiger make his return the week of the Masters? It’s all too perfect.

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