Paul Johnson

He’s back, and I fore one couldn’t be happier. In fact I’m so happy about it, I could care less about all the haters and doubters who hope that his downfall and failures will continue.

He of course is Tiger Woods, and next weekend he makes his long awaited return to the PGA Tour at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Granted, the “long awaited” portion of that sentence is purely from my perspective, but I’m not alone. There’s a significant segment of the population that have been longing for his return, not the least of whom are The Golf Channel, and any major U.S. television network that has a broadcasting deal with the PGA Tour.

Put simply they have been VERY un-happy campers since that fateful night 2 years ago when Tiger’s kevlar-protected world came crashing down in a heap on his front lawn. It’s a crash that not only dinged up his SUV – it put a serious dent in his image. A dent which led to “The Apology” broadcast.

Since then he’s been divorced, lost a truckload of money (to his ex AND from sponsors leaving), saw his Teflon coated image take a major hit, fired his long-time caddy and has been injured more than he’s been healthy.

On the course – I’VE won just as many PGA tournaments as he has in the last 2 years – which of course would be ZERO…and I’m actually a pretty decent golfer. In fact, Tiger hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since the 2009 BMW Championship. For a guy with that amount of talent – that is a LONG dry spell. For perspective, read this article about that victory and remember how good he was before “SUV-Gate” as he steamrolled the competition and ran away with the title thanks to a 19-under par score of 265.

As for the theory that “now I can watch golf again” – the premise is simple. Tiger – love him or hate him, cheer for him or hope for his failure – is must-see TV. He’s the best reality show on television because there is no producer, no director and no fakeness. It’s real.

He’s just a man with a golf club and a sordid past trying to return to the level of play that saw him absolutely dominate his sport for the better part of a decade.

I for one, can’t wait to watch it play out. Quite frankly I hope he goes wire-to-wire and obliterate’s the rest of the field.

And I’m not alone.

Have a day – and enjoy your long weekend!

Paul