The Boys are Back in Town

Not every week do we get to watch two major events take place, with some of the world’s best golfers on display. We had the European Tour reach the final hole, and a nail biting finish to crown a winner in the Omega Dubai Classic. Not to be outdone, the PGA TOUR needed an extra day to finish its tournament, trickling into a Monday morning playoff push.

Props to Golf Network for promoting the European Tour on American TV. With the PGA during the day, and live coverage of the European Tour at night, golf fans can get a double dip of live golf coverage.

It is a good sign for golf getting major names back into the limelight, with some of its most popular golfers coming back from one injury or another. It’s becoming more and more evident that the old Rory Mcllroy is back in his prime.

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Rory has now played in eight tournaments since his return from injury, netting a second and third place finish in his two last events. Mcllroy was the world ranked number one golfer for 95 weeks before falling off due to injury. The question now is does he elevate it to the next level once again, and become his old dominant self. He is currently ranked 3rd on the European Tour, and will make his way back to the states to compete in some PGA action coming back for the AT&T Pro-Am later next month.

Now, if we are going to talk about previously dominant golfers that had a step back due to injury, Tiger Woods immediately comes to mind. Obviously we have seen Tiger play before over the past couple years, but clearly hasn’t been his old dominant self since, “The Incident,” but we won’t talk about that now… I don’t think anyone actually thought he could win this event, but what everyone was interested in seeing is if he could professionally compete again without injury hindrance. His driver was still his biggest nemesis, but besides that he played pretty good. All in all, this weekend was a total success. He not only made the cut, but he put himself in a position where he could play meaningful golf come Sunday afternoon. More important than that, he did it pain free, which means we will most likely see Woods at a lot more events.

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Golf ratings are very Tiger dependent, so if Woods can consistently put together competitive rounds, then we might see a renaissance in golf coming upon us. There are so many young talented golfers that the general public has no idea about, but if all eyes are on Tiger, then they will have no choice but to watch a little Tony Finau, or Bud Cauley during the simulcast.

We have seen golf as a dominant sport during the Tiger era, and it was at its most popular. Now, we are at a point where there is so much talent, it’s really anyone’s game. Every week we can see someone new, or see an old face come back and win.

Enter Jason Day, the winner of the Farmers Insurance Open. 2017 was not the easiest year for Jason Day. After his mother’s cancer diagnosis, he seemed to lack any sense of motivation. He went from world’s best golfer to seemingly an afterthought. Then all of a sudden, he gets this black injury, and I was ready to throw in the towel for him. It was as recent as this week where he withdrew from the Pro-Am because his back was so sore. I think it was on his Thursday round on 17 when even Nick Faldo mentioned his back was as stiff as a board during one of his putts. He made a comment after the SIXTH playoff hole in route to the victory that he was just hoping to make the cut and be healthy, let alone win the event.

To go from withdrawing Wednesday due to injury, to winning an event with six extra holes, is pretty incredible.

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April 5-8

Do the dates ring any bells? That my friends is the 2018 Masters at Augusta National where we will see all the top names in golf playing together for the first time in what seems to be forever.

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Imagine for a second Masters week where the headliners include, but not limited to Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, a healthy Jason Day and Rory Mcllroy. Young players like Justin Thomas, and John Rahm, and of course our returning champion Sergio Garcia.

Talk about star studded. This week in review was great entertainment, but in the grand scheme of things, this week brought us reassurance that some of the best golfers in the world are back, and hopefully better than ever. Golf is at as rare crossroads where the level of competition is at an all-time high, but ratings… Not so much. With a healthy Tiger, and droves of popularity coming back to the sport, the stars will have to capture the attention of the viewers so when Tiger leaves again, the fans stick around.

When Tiger tees up at Augusta, fans will tune in inevitably. It’s up to Spieth, Johnson, and the rest of the world’s best golfers to keep the fans coming back for more.

Cover Image via Instagram