If the rest of the Tiger Woods comeback tour goes anything like his first two rounds in the Farmers Insurance Open, TV executives and the golf industry are in for a good year.The 14-time major champion with a 1-under, 143 at Torrey Pines. More impre sive, though, is that he didn't seemto be in
Rusney Castillo Jersey any pain during the first two rounds. That's major improvement for a golfer who underwent spinal fusion surgery last yearand hadn't played in an official tour event in 10 months.MORE: "Fun to compete again. Fun to be out there," he said after Round 1 on Thursday."... I was probably a little bit rusty."Overnight ratings for the Golf Channel telecast will be available within the next few days. Regardle s of what they show, the biggest takeaway is that Woods seems poised to play more golf than he has in years, and at a more competitive level than some ofhis other attempted comebacks from surgery. The 42-year-old former world No. 1heads into Friday's round seven strokes behind leader Tony Finau and needs to make the cut to continue on into the weekend. Based on Thursday, no one should count him out.(Editor's note: It was the highest overnight for a PGA tournament Round 1 since last years Farmers Round1, when Woods also played. There were 3.6 million minutes streamed Thursday,up 52% vs 2017,and 52,000 unique visitors, up 32% vs. 2017.)Woods dominatesTorrey Pines like no other course. He's won eight times there, including the Farmers during his last big year, in 2013. AndTorrey Pines was the site of his last major victory,the 2008 U.S. Open, where he
Dustin Pedroia Jersey out-dueled Rocco Mediate on one healthy leg.Those stats are reason enough for Jim Nantz of CBS Sports to expect Woods to still be in the field on Saturday, nearly a month after he returned to competitive golf by playing in a non-cut event in the Bahamas."We saw enough in the Bahamas to realize this is the closest he's been physically to being the Tiger Woods we knew who waswinning all the time," Nantz said in a conference call days before the Farmers began. "Well, we're going to see him. Again, this isn't an exhibition. This is for real. It happens to be on a stage where, man, he has put together a highlight reel that most players will never have for a
Johnny Pesky Jersey career." Of course, it's in Nantz' and CBS' interest to see Woods play into the weekend. The networkwill kick off its season-long coverage of the PGA Tour with its Saturday coverage at Torrey Pines from 4 p.m.to 7 p.m. ET,and 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. But Nantz noted that he and CBS were also on the call for most of Woods' tournament and major victories. They know how he super-charges golf TV ratings just by his presence in the
David Price Jersey field.There's a handful of "superior" superstars like Woods, Michael Jordan or Tom Bradywho command attention whenever they step into acompetitive arena, according to Nantz."Imagine if Tom Bradyhad taken a step away from the game. And wedidnt really see him complete in five years And all of a sudden Tom Brady is going to go back, throw the jersey on and No. 12 is on the field again. What is that going to look like this Sunday?I mean,I'mwatching. IfMichael Jordan decides to come out of retirement, after all these years, and hes going to go play in a real game again,not an exhibition, what does that look like? I've got to see that. My day is being scheduled around that. Well, that's kind
Boston Red Sox Hats of where we are with Tiger."Woods hasn't won a tournament in five years,and hasn't taken first ina major in nearly a decade. But as he showed Thursday and Friday, he's swinging the golf club faster and better than during any of his previous short-lived comebacksfrom back/knee surgeries and a personal scandal. In Round 1, he was again bombing long drives past his competitors.Of course, we've been here many times as Woods has returned only to fade awayagain with another injury. This time might just be different. Related Articles Tiger Woods timeline: Documenting three years of struggles on and off the course
