Rozner: Win or lose, Tiger Woods' return a gift

Tiger Woods is back.

That will be the declaration from around the sports world after Woods finished second at the Valspar in Tampa on Sunday.

After making nothing all day, he made a bomb on 17 that gave him a chance on 18 to tie and force a playoff, but he missed a 36-footer on Innisbrook's toughest hole and Paul Casey won by a shot.

So he's back? Back to what? That's the real question.

Those pronouncements will come from many of the same people who said Woods would never play again, never really compete again and certainly wouldn't have the mental fortitude to win again.

Take it for what it's worth.

The reality is Woods has played 14 competitive rounds of golf the last six weeks after four back surgeries, four years of almost no competitive golf and after picking up a club for the first time and swinging it hard in November.

That's four months ago, when he got out of bed and started hitting golf balls.

Tiger Woods is at about 30 percent of where he will be if he continues to stay healthy and continues to play four rounds every time he enters a tournament.

That's what he needs more than anything else. He needs a year of health and reps. If that happens, the sky really is the limit. Then, Tiger Woods will be back.

Phil Mickelson won last week at age 47 and the 42-year-old Woods knows the names that have racked up huge win totals in their 40s.

Vijay Singh won 22 tournaments after age 40, winning only 12 times before. Sam Snead won 17 of his 82 in his 40s, Kenny Perry 11 of his 14 and Steve Stricker nine of his 12, to name just a few.

It should also be noted that 36 players have won majors after reaching 40 years old, including Mickelson, who won the Open Championship at 43.

Making Woods' task harder, however, is there are at least 50 or 60 players good enough to win every week now, and the kids are not afraid of Woods.

They have never experienced what it's like to hear that noise on Sunday down the stretch and know there's only one player who can create that roar.

If that starts to happen consistently, they will find out what it's like.

During the first two days of the Valspar, Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson got a taste of the galleries, the noise and distraction Woods' presence creates, and while Woods shot 4-under Thursday and Friday, Spieth was 5-over and Stenson 6-over, as both missed the cut.

And Woods is just starting to figure it out. He's just learning to play golf again.

He's got a new back, a new swing, a new ball, a lighter driver shaft and different driver length, to name just a few changes, and yet he somehow shot even par to finish 12th at the Honda in U.S. Open conditions, and then came close at the Valspar.

This, just a few weeks after missing the cut at Riviera.

The progress he has made week to week is inconceivable, like an injured pitcher out of action four years, throwing in spring training and reaching an all-star level immediately.

Absurd.

His clubhead speed and distance is up there with the best of the young guns and his drive on the 14th hole Saturday was ripped at 129.2 mph, the fastest recorded on the PGA Tour this season.

But there is much to work on and much practice needed, witness the trouble he had with proximity into the greens with his irons Sunday. He didn't get many good looks at bird and it's why he finished second.

Imagine what he might be able to do when he starts to get a feel for how far he can hit it and what his new clubs can do.

He's about two years ahead of what a normal Tour pro ought to be able to do under the circumstances, given his lengthy absence and all those changes.

So is this Michael Jordan when he returned from baseball, struggling at times to find his game?

Is it Jordan in the second three-peat, turning it back on at full speed, playing less above the rim than the first time around?

Or is it Jordan when he came back with the Wizards, hardly the same player but occasionally able to find that gear he possessed 10 years before?

Time will give us the answer, but we'll only know for certain if Woods is able to stay healthy, practice furiously and play week after week on the PGA Tour.

If he can do that, he absolutely will win again and win frequently, probably enough to satisfy even those who never believed it could happen.

Either way, to get the greatest who ever played back on the course and entertaining again is a gift.

No matter what happens, it is a gift.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.