THE “GOAT OF GOLF”, ELDRICK TONT “TIGER” WOODS, CONVENES “The THE GLOBAL GOLF WORLD OF ENTHUSIASTS”, AND EVERY GOLF FAN ON THE PLANET, TO THE FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN, AT TORREY PINES

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Monday broke peacefully at sun-drenched Torrey Pines, with soft breezes drifting in off the Pacific Ocean and a sense of calm floating over this 36-hole public golf resort.

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Among the biggest fans this week will be Woods’ colleagues, all eager to see what the former world No. 1 for a record 683 weeks, the guy who has 79 Tour titles and 14 majors on his resume, can do. The feeling was much the same last year at Torrey Pines where Woods returned to the PGA Tour for his first start in 18 months. But his bad back betrayed him, he missed the cut, then withdrew after one round the following week in the Middle East and was out until December.

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“I saw some good stuff,” Horschel said. “I think he’s going to come out and shock some people.”

Woods didn’t stun Justin Thomas in the Bahamas. After playing with Woods ahead of the Hero, Thomas expected to see some solid play. Paired with Woods in the first and fourth rounds, the reigning PGA Tour player of the year saw just that.

“If he stays healthy, I really do think he’ll have a great year,” Thomas said last month. “We’re just going to have to wait and find out.”

Patrick Reed is looking forward to finding out. Reed played a practice round with Woods in the Bahamas and said Monday that Woods got “a taste for competition and played well in the Hero.” Reed thinks Woods will make consistent improvements as the weeks pass this year.

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“ … He’s the greatest golfer that has ever played on the planet. I grew up when he was in his prime and I saw what he can do. I want him to come back because I want a taste of that, to see what it’s like to play Tiger when he’s at his best. And he could get there. With a guy like him, with his work ethic, he can still get it going.”

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St Andrews, GBR; Tiger Woods on the 2nd green during the first round for the 144th Open Championship at St. Andrews – Old Course. Mandatory 

MORE ON THE GOAT OF GOLF, TIGER WOODS

Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods is an American professional golfer who is the most successful golfer of all time. He is the only golfer in history to have been the highest-paid athlete in the world.

Following an outstanding junior, college, and amateur career, Woods was 20 years old when he turned professional at the end of the summer in 1996. By April 1997, he had already won three PGA tour events in addition to his first major, the 1997 Masters. Woods won this tournament by 12 strokes in a record-breaking performance and pocketed $486,000. He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997, less than a year after turning pro. Throughout the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf. He was the top-ranked golfer in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 weeks) and again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 weeks).

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In this June 15, 2008 photo, Tiger Woods reacts after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th green forcing a playoff against Rocco Mediate during the fourth round of the US Open championship at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego. To try to gauge what kind of year Woods can expect, pay no attention to a missed cut in the Middle East. The better measure is Torrey Pines. It’s one of five golf courses that account for more than 40 percent of his PGA Tour wins.

After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 25, 2013, he ascended to the No.1 ranking once again, holding the top spot until May 2014. Woods had back surgery in April 2014 and September 2015 and has struggled since to regain his dominant form. By March 29, 2015, Woods had fallen to #104, outside of the top 100 for the first time since 1996. In May 2016, Woods dropped out of the world top 500 for the first time in his professional career. In July 2017, the Official World Golf Ranking placed Woods at number 1,005, the worst of his career and only time he has ever been out of the top 1,000. He had ranked number one for a total of 683 weeks, more than any other player in history.

Woods has broken numerous golf records. He has been World Number One for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record eleven times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in ten different seasons. He has won 14 professional major golf championships, where he trails only Jack Nicklaus who leads with 18, and 79 PGA Tour events, second all-time behind Sam Snead(82). Woods leads all active golfers in career major wins and career PGA Tour wins. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer (after Nicklaus) to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999. Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only golfers to win both The Silver Medal and The Gold Medal at The Open Championship.