If there had been any doubt as to whether the best player in the world was back in top form, the critics were answered on Sunday afternoon in Dublin, Ohio at the Memorial Tournament. Despite one win and 4 other top 10 finishes since his return to the PGA Tour this season after season ending knee surgery following the US Open in 2008, most golf fans and experts felt that Tiger was not quite himself. Failing to finish strong at Augusta, going bogey, bogey to finish 4 shots out of the lead when you used to expect him to finish birdie, birdie to apply pressure to the leaders and then firing a lack luster 73 from the final pairing at the Players in May, you could only speculate that the knee was just not quite ready.
It is so hard to accept that he is human and that such a significant layoff from competition could affect the best player of this generation and perhaps ever. His season to this point is usually enough to put any other player at the top of the player of the year voting and an odds on favorite at the remaining major championships, but this is Tiger Woods and anything less than a spectacular birdie putt at Bay Hill to win seems, well, disappointing.
Well it looks like Tiger has made the right adjustments, perhaps with some work with swing coach Hank Haney. Having switched to a higher lofted, 10 degree driver for the Memorial, Tiger led the field in driver accuracy, thats right, I said driver accuracy, and then finishes birdie, birdie to win the tournament by one shot over Jim Furyk. A final round 65 is much more like the Tiger Woods that we have come accustomed to know and all but erases any doubt that any level headed golf fan has going into the US Open at Bethpage Black where Woods will be defending is 2008 title and the 2002 title that was also played at the Black.
Who knows what will happen at Bethpage in two weeks, who knows if Tiger will have a challenger or if he will just play so-so by his standards. Two things are for sure, he will be the favorite and he will not be concerned with what the rest of us say.
