TIGER RETURNS
Gorant: Okay, Tiger returns this week at Bridgestone. What can we expect?
Morfit: A lot of rust.
Lipsey: He won't miss the cut.
Wei: He'll beat last year's four-day total of 18-over.
Evans: This is a no-cut event, and he gets to play on a golf course that he has ruled in the past. I think he shoots 280 and finishes four or five strokes off the winning score.
Morfit: I think that prediction is completely bonkers. I hope you are right.
Evans: It's a prediction.
Godich: Flashes of brilliance, maybe even a nine-hole run at the end of a round that will have many pronouncing that Tiger is back! In the end, more missed short putts that he never used to miss and a T28.
Herre: I thought you'd never ask! I have a feeling Woods is going to come out strong, but the question is, can he put together four good rounds? I see him going low at least once, which will get everyone talking, but will the consistency be there for him to contend? Probably not.
Hack: I just don't know what's what with Tiger anymore, as if anyone ever did. Has he hit one bucket of balls or 1,000? Is it the knee, the Achilles or both? Does he even burn to be the world-beater he once was? The man could win by five, lose by 25, or finish somewhere in between, and I'll just stand back and say, well, of course he did.
Godich: I'll be most interested to see what he's doing on the practice range.
Lipsey: I hope they pair Tiger with Adam Scott.
Wei: Throw in Jim Furyk, too.
Gorant: Do we believe that Tiger is really 100 percent, or were there other things that led to his seemingly sudden decision to return this week?
Godich: No way he's 100 percent. But I think he wanted a tune-up before the PGA to get the rust off. That said, he's got to play 72 holes, no matter how badly he might be hurting. Can you imagine the reaction if he WDs again?
Evans: Tiger will never be 100 percent. I doubt if he sees that as a goal. I think what he wants is to learn how to simply put four good rounds together.
Godich: Who would've thunk someone would be suggesting something like that about Tiger in, say, the summer of 2009?