OB SPORTS GOLF & LEISURE
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SPRING 2018
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obsports.com
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TOUR REPORT
TIGER IN THE HUNT
Tiger Woods fans won't reflect
fondly on the spring of 2017. A
painful, ongoing recovery from a
fourth back surgery in mid-April
yielded a rock bottom low in late May,
following a DUI arrest. This was the
end, correct? Tiger was finished, right?
Not. So. Fast.
For those with short memories, it
pays to remember that Tiger Woods is
perhaps the greatest competitor golf
has ever known. He occupies that rar-
efied air alongside Michael Jordan and
Muhammad Ali. They're wired differ-
ently. Until Tiger says he's done, he's
not done.
At his late 2017 comeback at the
Hero World Challenge in the Ba-
hamas, he actually held the lead for a
bit, and finished tied for ninth amid a
stellar, if small, world-class field. At
his reunion with Torrey Pines at the
Farmers, he couldn't find a fairway for
four rounds, yet still finished tied for
23rd thanks to his recovery prowess.
I'll repeat what Jordan Spieth said
about him 14 months ago: "With Tiger,
every time we set expectations, he ex-
ceeds them."
Until he actually hangs it up for
good, I remain convinced that he will
win again, by sheer will alone. He
continues to move the needle like no
one else in golf. I'm pumped up to see
him back in contention on a regular
basis.
•••
MASTERS MASSES
I say this every year about now, but
this time I mean it: I've never been
more excited for the Masters to arrive.
It's not just the soft piano and Jim
Nantz' dulcet tones on the CBS tour-
nament promos. It's almost all about
the game's most beautiful and dra-
matic inland stage, Augusta National,
testing a field that currently features
unparalleled depth at the top. To wit:
> Long-hitting Justin Thomas leads
the young guns. He smashed through
with his first major at the 2017 PGA,
won five times, captured Player of the
Year honors and started the wrap-
around season with a win at the CJ
Cup at Nine Bridges in Korea.
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