Tiger Woods :: Back again – now what?

And so it begins. Again.

Tiger Woods’ latest return to golf takes place this week, with the former world No.1 – now ranked 24th – set to play in the Hero World Challenge at Isleworth.

By the time he pegs it up in the event that benefits his eponymous foundation on Thursday, 118 days will have passed since the 14-time major winner last played competitively.

Relative to recent spells on the sidelines, this latest absence has been short. Even so, how Tiger returns will tell us much about what his future holds.

Before the month is out, he will turn 39. He is, as current world No.1 Rory McIlroy pointed out just a few months ago, on the ‘last few holes’ of his career.

Still, though, he has much to accomplish. Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors is still just four wins away, whilst he’s only three shy of Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA Tour victories.

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So long as those goals remain unchecked, you would have to expect Tiger to battle on for as long as he is able. His ego wouldn’t have it any other way. His body? That’s a different matter.

Tiger’s catalogue of injuries could fill a medical journal. That muscular physique belies a brittle, battle-scarred body. It’s like having a Ferrari chassis and a Robin Reliant engine.

Given the events of the past few years, you have to imagine that Tiger’s body will give up the ghost long before his pride and, if he is to become a significant force in the game again, that’s an inevitability he will need to make allowances for.

For that reason, it concerns me he has hired a new coach. The issue isn’t who he has chosen. By all accounts, Chris Como comes with a good pedigree. For me, the issue is that he could and should have gone it alone.

A new coach, particularly at this stage in his career, is a massive gamble that I’m not sure Tiger Woods can afford to take.

A new coach, any new coach, will try to influence a player’s behaviour with new swing things, ‘optimum positions’ and the like. Tiger, for me, doesn’t need that. Sure, he might want it. It’s well known that he’s a swing geek and he talks obsessively of regaining his ‘explosiveness’. But this is a classic case of ‘want’ and ‘need’ being entirely different.

By this point, surely Tiger has amassed enough knowledge to go it alone and play by instinct. Swing naturally, let it flow, do what feels right.

A new coach, particularly at this stage in his career, is a massive gamble that I’m not sure he can afford to take. To coin one of his most cherished phrases, he’s embarking on a new ‘process’, one that typically takes time and patience. Woods has little of one and can afford even less of the other if he is to fulfil his ‘destiny’. I hope I’m wrong but I can’t find much to suggest that I am. Ask yourself this: when was the last time you saw a player team up with a new coach and find immediate success? Then again, though, this is Tiger Woods we’re talking about. Anything is possible.

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As far as this week goes, expectations will be high. The Hero World Challenge is, after all, an event that Tiger hosts and has won five times since 2001. And though it has a new home for this year, bear in mind that Isleworth is somewhere that Tiger knows well. He lived in the swish Florida community for a number of years and was a regular at the course.

He’ll be expected to contend, perhaps even win. But be neither surprised nor alarmed if he doesn’t. He’ll be rusty, for sure, and so he should be. Would you be at your best on your first couple of days back at work after almost four months off? Doubtful.

So, let’s not read too much into how he plays this week. Let’s instead just hope that he’s fully fit. Approaching 40 and with his medical record, he can’t afford not to be.

Tiger Woods :: What does 2015 have in store?

As he makes his latest return from injury, what do you think 2015 has in store for Tiger Woods? Major wins? Regular wins? No wins at all? Leave your thoughts in our ‘Comments’ section below.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor