Return of the Prodigal Son

The appeal of the story of Tiger's earlier-than-expected return to tournament golf is that no one, Tiger included, knew what to expect from him.  Notwithstanding that, I'm left with the sense that it kinda sorta, you know, pretty much went according to the script.

Jim Moririty leads with the all-important scene on the first tee (OK, technically the tenth tee):

Give him this much, in his first competitive round since back surgery on March 31, Tiger

Woods could at least bend over and tie his shoes on the first tee. Going out in four-over-par 39 on Congressional C.C.’s back nine, his front, it looked for a while like it would take a belt sander to knock all the rust off Woods’ game. On the front, however, he birdied three of his final six holes to finish with a respectable three-over 74. In Woodsian jargon, for what it was, it was what it is.

No details on whether he double-knotted them for safety, so we'll have to await further details.   

The good news is that he was pain free, though he also took pains to point out he wasn’t headed for the practice range, he was headed for a cold soak and treatment. “The back’s great. I had no issues at all. No twinges. No nothing. It felt fantastic. That’s one of the reasons why I let go on those tee shots. I hit it pretty hard out there,” he said. “I think tonight I’ll just take it easy.”

Everything else takes back seat to the err....back, so let's hope he's leveling with us there. Of course during his hibernation Tiger was limited to chipping and putting, so those parts of his game were expected to be more battle-tested, no?  From Rex Hoggard:

Conventional wisdom suggested that because Woods had been limited to only chipping and putting for much of the time since his surgery his short game would not be as rusty as his tee-to-green play, but he struggled early and often around the greens. 

He bogeyed No. 15 after a poor chip to 12 feet, missed a 5-footer at the 16th hole for birdie and bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes after more poor chips. 

“I hit some bad pitches,” said Woods, who hit 10 of 18 greens in regulation, nine of 14 fairways and needed 31 putts. “Those are the ones I should get up and down and I didn't.”

Barry Svrluga, still searching in vain for a vowel, tries to capture the meaning of it all:

But there is little doubt that the uneven, 3-over-par 74 he shot in the first round of the Quicken Loans National meant something more to golf as a sport than the occasional chunked chip shot or wayward iron — both of which Woods hit Thursday. On a global sporting scale, the PGA Tour stop in Bethesda this week is cast against everything from the World Cup to Wimbledon. Without Woods, it drowns. With him, it at least competes. 

“It was cool,” said 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, who played in Woods’s group and struggled to a 74 himself. “It was great to see everyone behind Tiger welcoming him back and wishing him well.”

Tiger played in the early wave, and as such wasn't covered in the Golf Channel broadcast window.  From the highlights package, it appeared to be a Rorschach inkblot of a round, one from which the viewer can draw any and all conclusions.  For those inclined to be less charitable, it was a mess of a day in which Tiger showed little ability to get his ball into the hole.  For those awaiting the Messiah, with only two weeks of full swings behind him the man played the last six holes in three under.  The latter, of course, was the perspective of the Striped One in his post-round presser...

Helen Ross, writing at PGATour.com, captures some of the new, more cuddly Tiger:

Tiger Woods joked that he, Jason Day and Jordan Spieth were just trying to break 80 on

Thursday during the first round of the Quicken Loans National. 

"Unfortunately we didn't see a lot of each other on the (first) nine," Woods said of the trio, who rank Nos. 5, 6 and 9, respectively, in the world, but posted surprising 4-over 39s on their first nines. "... It was a bit of a fight today for all of us but we all hung in there."

She found the galleries surprisingly subdued, but how exuberant can they be when it's 120 degrees and the marque group throws three 39's on the board:

The gallery was somewhat subdued but supportive of Woods and his playing partners. Three fans wore orange t-shirts with the words "He's Back" across the chest. After his sixth bogey, a fan yelled out encouragement: "Keep trying, Tiger, keep trying." And the cheers racketed up considerably when he starting hitting it close on the back nine.

How the mighty have fallen, when the drunken screams turn from "You Da' Man" to "Keep Trying."  

Maybe the most interesting item out there this morning is this Matthew Rudy discussion with instructor Jason Birnbaum about Tiger's swing:

"There's no doubt he and Sean are working on things that you can't see with the naked eye, and I'm sure they have a plan for what they want to do," says Jason Birnbaum, a Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, "But his swing is obviously shorter. He used to have a full backswing, just short of parallel, with some softness in his left arm. Now, he's short and extremely wide." 

Less obvious that the shorter backswing with longer clubs is the amount Woods' hands now lead the clubhead into impact with the driver. "He's aways had a lot of that lag in his swing, but at Congressional, it's gotten extreme with the driver," says Birnbaum, who is based at Alpine Country Club in Demarest, NJ. "Based on what I've heard him say, I know it's something he and Sean are trying to do with his swing, but it's gotten out of hand. His body positions are almost identical, but his release point is completely different. You'd need to see TrackMan numbers to know exactly, but hitting down that much on the driver has to hurt his accuracy. It's probably hard for him to time."

There's video at the link for those interested.  I've pointed you to the item so obviously I find it interesting, but have to add that it may be jumping the gun.  The idea that a man coming off back surgery would initially display a shorter backswing is highly non-counter-intuitive....or, to use a more technical term, duh!

But out of the frying pan... as the man noted in his presser, he needs his reps to get back his feels... But he starts the day behind virtually the entire field, and unless he can post a pretty darn good number our Prodigal Son will have the Sabbath, errr make that both Sabbaths, off.