Antalya: Tiger Woods celebrated his 41st birthday Friday and long-time friend and fellow professional Notah Begay III predicts he will have more to celebrate in a triumphant return to the PGA Tour in 2017.
Though Woods has competed only once over the past 16 months due to chronic back problems that required multiple surgeries, Begay was encouraged by that solitary tournament appearance earlier this month in the Bahamas.
Woods made his long anticipated return at the Hero World Challenge which he hosts and despite delivering mixed form he ended the week with a tournament-high aggregate of 24 birdies.
“I don’t think anybody in the inner circle, including Tiger, could have been happier,” Begay said about Woods’ performance in the elite, limited-field event. “There was a lot of curiosity around what was going to happen, what his swing was going to look like … how his mind was going to adjust to the tournament environment because it’s just so different, you can’t recreate that focus in practice.
“For him to go out and make more birdies than anybody else in the field after being on the shelf for 15 months was quite remarkable. He’s seeing some definite returns on the time that he’s put in with regard to his recovery.”
Woods has already committed to playing in the PGA Tour’s Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club from February 16-19 and is also expected to tee it up three weeks earlier in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Begay, a 44-year-old Native American who won four times on the PGA Tour, has forecast that Woods will hit top form by the opening major of the year, the April 6-9 Masters.
Reuters
