This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
It's a scene we've seen before: Tiger Woods' annual invitational was won with a Tigeresque performance. Of course, as you know by now, the only thing missing on Sunday at the Hero World Challenge was Tiger Woods in the winner's circle. Playing the part of Woods was Jordan Spieth, one of the golfers on the short list to be -- who else? -- the next Tiger.
While the 21-year-old Spieth moved to a career-best No. 9 in the world, following his huge win last week in the Australian Open with a 10-stroke runaway in the elite 18-man Challenge, he's still no Tiger Woods. Woods has the uncanny ability to generate the most buzz simply by showing up. And if he shows up for the first time in four months, even better.
The tournament benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation was for years played at Sherwood Country Club outside Los Angeles before moving to its host's home course, Isleworth in Windermere, Fla. Along with a new venue, Woods brought along all sorts of new stuff, most importantly a new swing.
And while he did finish tied for 17th (um, that would be last), he declared his balky back pain-free while hitting the fairway with 71 percent of his drives. This was the first time we'd seen Woods since the PGA Championship in August and the first time since his Nov. 22 tweet heralding Chris Como as his new swing "consultant."
None other than noted Tiger gadfly Brandel Chamblee said before the event
It's a scene we've seen before: Tiger Woods' annual invitational was won with a Tigeresque performance. Of course, as you know by now, the only thing missing on Sunday at the Hero World Challenge was Tiger Woods in the winner's circle. Playing the part of Woods was Jordan Spieth, one of the golfers on the short list to be -- who else? -- the next Tiger.
While the 21-year-old Spieth moved to a career-best No. 9 in the world, following his huge win last week in the Australian Open with a 10-stroke runaway in the elite 18-man Challenge, he's still no Tiger Woods. Woods has the uncanny ability to generate the most buzz simply by showing up. And if he shows up for the first time in four months, even better.
The tournament benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation was for years played at Sherwood Country Club outside Los Angeles before moving to its host's home course, Isleworth in Windermere, Fla. Along with a new venue, Woods brought along all sorts of new stuff, most importantly a new swing.
And while he did finish tied for 17th (um, that would be last), he declared his balky back pain-free while hitting the fairway with 71 percent of his drives. This was the first time we'd seen Woods since the PGA Championship in August and the first time since his Nov. 22 tweet heralding Chris Como as his new swing "consultant."
None other than noted Tiger gadfly Brandel Chamblee said before the event that he liked what he saw from the new swing, tweeting: "Tiger is more upright and his swing is longer. Both good signs." Tiger then tweeted back, "Thanks, Brandel! Appreciate it, bro!" (Actually, that second tweet never happened.)
Besides a new swing and a new coach, Tiger sported new Nike clubs (all but the putter) and ball. And a slightly new body, having lost of lot of weight because of his training regimen. And, for all intent and purpose, a new back.
So with all that fanfare, Woods began play on Thursday with ... drum roll, please ... the onset of flu-like symptoms. Cough, cough indeed! He opened with a 5-over 77 to sink to the bottom of the leaderboard. His condition worsened Friday and worsened further Saturday, when he was said to have a fever of 102 and vomited twice, once while warming up, once mid-round. But he shot 69 that day, his best score of the week, climbing back to even par by tournament's end.
Woods' driver behaved, but his short game was atrocious (was this Bizarro Tiger?), chilly-dipping his way to two bogeys and a triple on the par-5 13th alone. In all, there were almost 10 flubs around the green. But so elated with his health and his driving, Woods took the mis-hits in stride: "As I change my full swing, my short game changes. My release point is different." He said it's just a matter of more practice, which he planned on resuming before shutting it down for the holidays.
Where does that leave Woods and, because this is the crux of the matter, where does that leave fantasy gamers when considering Woods for their team? Well, he plans on playing his usual 15 or so events, likely beginning at Torrey Pines the first week in February but perhaps sooner.
The answers, of course, are: Who knows? The pain-free back and fairway-finding driver are surely positive signs. But a back can go out at any time, even with a swing designed to prevent a recurrence. So will you be bold enough to add Tiger to your holiday wish list? If you get him, you just don't want to find him under a tree.
MONDAY TAKEAWAY
Jordan Spieth
Oh, yeah, him. Yes, Spieth beat only 17 other golfers, but all were in the top 40 in the world and it simply wasn't close. After a rather deflating 2013-14 season in which he didn't win a tournament, Spieth has had a heckuva start to 2014-15, losing in a playoff in Japan, beating Adam Scott and Co. at Australia's national tournament and now this beatdown. We saw it with Rory McIlroy and we have now seen it with Spieth: taking a step back after making a big splash that trigger huge expectations. The tour is hard, even with all the natural talent in the world. Of course, Woods never suffered a "sophomore slump," so Spieth still has some work to do. But he'll likely go right behind McIlroy in auction drafts.
Henrik Stenson
It was a very quiet season for Stenson stateside after winning the FedEx Cup playoffs in 2013. But the Swede is on a remarkable roll that has vaulted him past Scott and into the No. 2 spot in the world rankings. Stenson last month won the European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, preceded by a solo third in the Turkish Airlines Challenge and a runner-up spot in the Volvo World Match Play Championship. Go back to August, and Stenson was T3 in the PGA Championship and, in June, T4 at the U.S Open. In other words, he's back to playing the unreal golf he did in '13. If he wins a major in 2015, it will surprise no one. Bypass him in your draft at your own peril.
Keegan Bradley
Bradley played with a regular-size putter and fared quite well (though he looks shorter than when using the broomstick). He tied for second with 24 birdies on the week and was 10th in putts per GIR. That helped him tie Patrick Reed for third, only a shot behind Stenson in the B flight. Of course, the anchored-putter ban kicks in in just about a year -- Jan. 1, 2016. So it's prudent for Bradley to get accustomed to a new club. While there must've been a reason he went away from a conventional putter, he was never that great a putter with the big one -- he missed 27 putts inside of five feet last season. So maybe this will be a win-win for Bradley.
Jason Day
Day is also returning from a back injury and, like Woods, was happy with how it held up. The Aussie closed with a 5-under 66 to finish solo fifth. And afterward, he was encouraged. The Day camp believes he's not too far off contending for McIlroy's perch atop the rankings, and it's probably right. Stay tuned.
Billy Horschel
Horschel may finally be coming down from the sugar high of winning the FedEx Cup playoffs followed by the birth of his first child. He fashioned twin 67s on the weekend to escape the bottom with Woods and tie for eighth with Zack Johnson and Matt Kuchar. That followed a missed cut, a T37 and a T73 in the first three events since his $10 million bank deposit.
Steve Stricker
Like Woods, Stricker played for the first time since the PGA Championship. Unlike Woods, he finished T7 in the major. Stricker didn't play much in 2013-14 by design, and when he did, his ailing older brother was not far from his thoughts. Scott Stricker died in October. Stricker played alongside Woods on Sunday, finishing 14th. He says he'll again play less than 15 events in 2015 but likely will concentrate them more in hopes of getting on a roll. So we may not see him until March, and then we could see him about twice a month through the PGA. If you can stomach getting nothing out of Stricker until spring, he's probably a good option, still ranked in the top 40.
