Rarely has the return to action of a sporting hero been celebrated with the gusto in which the golfing fraternity welcomed back the iconic Tiger Woods.
Tiger and his reconstructed knee took to the tee for the first time in eight months at the Accenture World Match Play Championship in Marana.
The last time we saw the Tiger on the prowl was when he won the US Open at Torrey Pines virtually on one leg.
It’s fair to say that even in his absence he had remained the most talked about figure in the sport and the last eight months seemed to have only served to show how dependent golf is on Woods for its global popularity.
Padraig Harrington did his best to fill the vacancy left by Tiger, winning successive majors last year, but he lacks the charisma and awe-inspiring talent of the main man.
Rory McIlroy has also kept the British interest from waning completely with glimpses of his exciting potential but if you asked anyone in Britain to name just one golfer Tiger would almost certainly be the name to pass their lips.
The problem when one man is so dominant in his sport is that anyone who succeeds while the champion is laid off automatically has the validity of their victory questioned – what if Tiger were playing?
Woods won his first match on his return (should we have expected anything else?) but it may take a while for him to get back to his best.
All that is certain is that the world of golf needs a fully firing Tiger because the only way a true successor can step forward is if they step up to the great man’s impeccable high standards.
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