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KAPALUA, HAWAII | Marc Leishman remembers the “what if” that came with playing tournament golf against Tiger Woods.
“My first year on Tour when he was winning everything, I finished second to him at the BMW (Championship), you think about if he wasn’t there,” Leishman said, recalling his rookie season in 2009.
Leishman wasn’t alone wondering what might have been had Woods not spent more than a decade dominating professional golf like he did.
And now Leishman wonders again about Woods, who is poised to return to the PGA Tour after nearly a year away. Woods has officially committed to play the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in late January followed by a start at the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club in mid-February.
So much is different now.
Woods recently turned 42 and is returning after spinal fusion surgery in April, his fourth back surgery. He hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2013 and he is approaching the 10th anniversary of his last major championship victory, the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He hasn’t played a full season in four years.
Now Leishman considers another “what if” scenario.
“I don’t think there would be one golfer on Tour that’s not excited about having him come back," he said. "I hope he stays healthy and plays well this year.”
Think about that.
Tour players being excited about playing against Woods. It wasn’t always that way.
“With Tiger we just don't exactly know what it’s going to bring. But I think because of the way that the Hero (World Challenge) went and the confidence that he's talking with, the place that he's at in life right now, I think he's in the best position he's been in in a few years to come back and be a regular out here competing. So that I would call the forefront of the excitement in golf right now,” Jordan Spieth said.
A year ago, there was optimism surrounding Woods’ return to the Tour. He scheduled four tournaments in a five-week span but didn’t make it past the second start – in Dubai – before stepping away again. His fusion surgery last spring was viewed by some as a last resort to save his career.
“I don’t think there would be one golfer on Tour that’s not excited about having him come back. I hope he stays healthy and plays well this year.”
– Marc Leishman on Tiger Woods
A little more than a month after being cleared to practice again, Woods played at the unofficial Hero tournament that he hosts in the Bahamas and briefly had a share of the lead after 27 holes. He looked powerful again. His swing – he has parted with swing coach Chris Como – drew positive reviews. He looked capable of competing again despite all the time he has missed.
“My swing is definitely shorter and I can’t turn as far,” Woods wrote recently on his website. “My back is fused and that’s as far as it’s going to go. But I was surprised at how explosive I was … I’m more than a full club longer than when I shut it down.”
So once Woods officially tees it up again, how often will he play?
On his website, Woods said he “would love to play a full schedule in 2018,” but beyond Torrey Pines and Riviera nothing is set. Woods called it “uncharted territory,” trying to navigate his way through his latest post-surgery comeback.
There is one more “what if.”
What if this comeback is the one that sticks for Woods?
“If he comes back and does what he can do and plays the way he can, there’s no reason why he’s not going to win again,” Leishman said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he went on and won, if he went back to his old self the way he’s swinging. I only saw it on TV but the way he was swinging at the Bahamas it looked good to me.”