Tiger's Return.

There has been a lot of speculation the past week about whether Tiger is going to tee it up for the first time at Bay Hill, The Masters, or sometime after The Masters.

I previously stated I thought he would be back at Bay Hill and I still do. Here is a list of reasons each makes sense, as well as why they don't.

Why He Will Play Bay Hill First

1. He has a great relationship with Arnie and Arnie showing him support at his tournament would be good step to helping repair Tiger's reputation (to the degree that it can be restored anyway).

2. He has won this tournament six times before and each of the past two with birdie puts on the last hole. Tiger has good karma here and God knows he needs that. I don't think he can win his first time out, but if he can, this is the only place other than Torrey Pines where he could.

3. This goes along with point 2. Winning is the only thing Tiger can do to get his life back to some degree of normalcy. Winning Majors even more so. If he doesn't win here he will at least have a tournament under his belt heading to Augusta.

4. He needs to get his first tournament over with. While the fogies who run Augusta can provide more protection for him it will still be a huge distraction. Playing Bay Hill gets a lot of questions out of the way so he can start to move on.

Why He Will Not Play Bay Hill First

1. What if Arnie isn't exactly glowing in his support of Tiger? That ain't good. I don't think he wants a father figure type talking about how great Tiger is but what he did was really stupid.

2. There is less certainty about how the gallery will react at this tournament than Augusta. My guess is the heckling here will be far worse than it ever could be at Augusta.

Why He Will Play The Masters First

1. It's his favorite tournament. It's the one he wants to win more than any other every year.

2. As mentioned above it will be the most controlled environment for him. He can get the fogies to shut out media that pisses him off and the gallery is ridiculously polite. It's worth mentioning that the gallery is usually full of high-powered executive types, 80% of whom screw their secretaries, so they will think what Tiger did was really no big deal and will leave him alone.

3. His ego is still huge and my guess is he will still have a flair for the dramatic and the ability rise to the occasion. And I think he has a stubborn "Fuck all of you" streak in him that will be even bigger now. What better way to stick it to everyone, other players included, than winning his first tournament back at The Masters?

Why He Will Not Play The Masters First

1. He is all about winning Majors and this year is his best ever chance at the Grand Slam. The US and British Opens are at Pebble beach and St. Andrew's, courses he owns. While only Tiger could win The Masters on his first tournament back, I doubt he will. Why take the risk of not winning when this is the best chance he will ever have at the Grand Slam? This is the biggest reason he chooses Bay Hill.

Why He Will Play After The Masters First

1. He is just not ready to go yet. If it is not the Masters all bets are off as to where he will tee it up. It's also a sign that he really is broken by this whole mess.

Why He Will Not Play After The Master First

1. As pointed out above, the only way to get back to any semblance of normalcy is to get back on the course.


To me it has to be Bay Hill. All Tiger has wanted to do, and been programmed to do, since he was three years old is to win golf tournaments and get to 19+ Major championships. His whole life has been built on success on the course (everything that has gone wrong is entirely off the course) and that is exactly where he belongs and it has to be the most comfortable place in his life. The sooner he is out and winning again, especially a year where the Grand Slam is its most likeliest, the sooner he will start getting media to focus on golf, start getting endorsements back, and stop having people laugh when they hear his name.