This Tiger Woods comeback has been about milestones. Can he finish a round after yet another, and this time more intense back surgery. Check. Can he play the weekend? Check. Can he be competitive at some top tier PGA Tour events? Check.
But one thing has been missing. Tiger has put some charges into galleries this year. He made runs at the PLAYERS, the Memorial, and most recently at the Quicken Loans National. Those runs, despite the fact that they sent golf Twitter into a tizzy, were eventually undone by less than stellar play down the stretch.
Was Cat going to win any of those tournaments? Probably not. But it gave us fans hope that he was “back.” When he stumbled down the stretch, it showed all of us that he still had a ways to go before he could be considered a serious threat on Tour and, maybe more importantly, at major championships.
All that changed Saturday at Carnoustie.
Well back of the leaders, Tiger hoped to get things going, make a run, and put himself in a good spot heading into the final round.
I’m happy to report we can check off another milestone in the comeback of Tiger Woods. Tiger went out and earned a late Sunday tee time with excellent tee to green play, timely putting, and a more aggressive style than we had seen the first two rounds. Maybe most importantly, he avoided the big mistake or momentum killing shot that had plagued his early season. That doesn’t mean he didn’t come close to doing it though.
On the 18th hole, with an iron in hand, Tiger came dangerously close to putting his tee shot into the burn. After hacking out into the fairway, Tiger came up large by sticking his third to about five feet. Call me crazy, but earlier in the year, that goes in the burn. Or he blows the third. Or misses a short one to save bogey.
Not at this Open Championship.
How Tiger sealed his 6️⃣6️⃣#TheOpen pic.twitter.com/IN34vjVpg7
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 21, 2018
With a spectacular 66 on Saturday, Tiger is right there. He can now sit back, watch the wind blow this afternoon, and look forward to Sunday where it appears he will be squarely in the mix.
If Tiger continues to play the way he did today, we might be able to check off one more milestone in his comeback: a major championship.