RON SEIBEL: Tiger Woods’ return makes for potentially memorable Masters

For someone who hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2013, Tiger Woods is looking awfully, awfully good right now.

After posting just one top-10 finish from 2014-17, the owner of 79 PGA Tour victories has come on strong at the start of 2018, making four out of five cuts and finishing in the top 10 in the two events he played during the month of March.

I’m not the type of sports fan who will watch an event to follow just one athlete, and I’m not much into celebrity hype. But the way Woods is playing right now, combined with the energy he brings to the golf course, three words come to mind right now as we enter April.

Hello, Augusta National.

Woods has always felt at home at the Masters. He has won the event four times, matching Arnold Palmer’s total and trailing only Jack Nicklaus’ six victories.

What better place for Woods to break through after his injuries and off-course problems and snap his lengthy dry spell?

Augusta National has always been a course that has rewarded shot selection and accuracy over pure length. While the course has been refined several times to accommodate today’s longer hitters, grip-and-rip alone won’t put a player in a green jacket.

That’s why older players thrive at the Masters. It’s not uncommon for older players to have a spot or two on the leaderboard heading into the weekend. And while Woods, 42, still has good length off the tee, averaging 304.2 yards this year, it’s his play around the green that has him back in contention.

Woods’ putting statistics are among the top 20 on tour. He’s fourth in overall putting percentage and one-putt percentage, and he’s 13th in three-putt avoidance.

There’s going to be a lot of pressure put on Woods this week. There are those who expect him to win every time he steps foot on the course. Not realistic, of course, but that pressure is there.

Let’s not lose sight, however, of those who are also in the hunt, those who could help make next weekend’s rounds memorable.

Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson are all in the FedExCup top five. Vijay Singh, who won the Masters in 2000, is in the top five among Champions Tour money leaders and is a strong candidate, along with perennial Masters early round contender Fred Couples, to make things interesting heading into the weekend, if not heading into the final round itself.

Could this be one of those years where a whole bunch of big-name players are on Sunday’s leaderboard? Could this be a year where golfer after golfer makes big shots on the second nine, making for some riveting television?

The potential is there. And it’s looking highly probable that Woods and his Sunday red shirt will be right in the mix.

Contact sports editor Ron Seibel at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ronseibel.