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Friday, April 9th, 2010 | Posted by Editor - Blog News Service

Tiger returns to his comfort zone

Tiger returns to his comfort zone

Tiger returns to his comfort zone

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods hit the ball into the middle of the 18th green and watched it snap back toward the cup like it was on a string. Around him, a cold drizzle dropped at Augusta National. The crowds were still deep for him, still desperate to roar for their new/old hero. He had come back to the place where he delivered so many times.

All day Tiger played the game at a remarkably high level, two eagles powering a four-under 68, his personal-best opening round at the Masters. He’s currently tied for seventh, two shots off leader Fred Couples and tees off Friday at 10:35 a.m.

And all day the patrons responded to that performance like no one had ever heard of Rachel Uchitel or the Perkins parking lot or “huge, quickly.” Heck, a lot of them cheered even louder.

Why Tiger Woods has spent so much time apologizing for his behavior is anyone’s guess. Turns out no one cares, at least not the faithful among the azaleas. Meanwhile Nike is running a bizarre ad featuring a pain-faced Woods and the voice of his deceased father – using a sex scandal to sell shoes. Television ratings and Internet hits are at an all-time high.

Tiger Woods Tabloid Star is good for business; might even be good for his game.

“Guess I need a longer layoff then,” Woods joked.

Oh, yeah, it was all shots and giggles around here.

Someone hired a couple of planes to fly overhead tugging signs: “Tiger, did you mean Bootyism” and “Sex addict? Yeah. Right. Sure. Me too!” Most patrons laughed and then cheered louder when Woods walked by.

Woods said he didn’t see it and shrugged it off saying, “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Other than a smattering of boos here or there, the reception was of a returning hero. It was cheers, chants and celebrations. Woods responded with growing ease and confidence. Where he was tight and intense on the first tee, he was dancing out into the ninth fairway to follow his shot onto the green.

By the walk up 18, he was a wearing that big smile and carrying himself with his traditional, cocksure gait.

What did today mean to you, he was asked?

“It meant that I’m two shots off the lead,” he said. “I’m here to play a golf tournament.”

Actually, he’s here to win a golf tournament.

Tiger Woods may not be much of a father or husband or boyfriend. And if you have a daughter, you sure don’t want him moving in next door. Give the guy some clubs and let him loose amid the worshipping whispers of these tall Georgian pines, though, and special things happen.

Thursday he even managed to make the National Enquirer go away, at least for a few hours. Maybe outside the Augusta National gates reality still awaits – a scorned wife, a bitter public and an angry neighborhood. Not in here, though. This is home. Actually, considering the circumstances, it’s better than home.

“I normally do feel pretty good on the golf course,” he said. “You know, sometimes maybe [it’s] a little bit difficult at home when helicopters are flying over taking pictures.”

What was as pressure-filled a day as anyone could remember quickly became a chase up the leaderboard.

Woods’ 68 could’ve been as low as a 64 as he had four different putts just miss. There are 31 golfers under par. Augusta National is sure to set the pins in atrocious places to keep this from turning into the Buick Open. Still, there aren’t many who don’t think Woods is the man to beat now.

“I was a bit surprised,” said one of his playing partners, Matt Kuchar. “[But when you’re talking about] a guy who won a U.S. Open on one leg, you tend to stop being surprised. There was no glaring weakness. Everything was good.”

Woods was completely empowered Thursday, not that he wasn’t already getting there.

When Nike is releasing an ad that uses out-of-context audio of your deceased father talking about his ex-wife, reapplied to hype up your own personal failings, all in the effort to move 3-irons and red shirts, you’re pretty much telling the critics to screw off.

If Woods wins this thing on Sunday, it’ll be even a bigger “How you like me now.”

His fans will rejoice in such a comeback – there is no denying Tiger’s mental toughness or flair for the dramatic. What he pulled off Thursday under stress that would crush most mortals will go down as legend.

If you care solely about the golf, then all the unseemly stuff just washes away. The tacky behavior and tabloid antics just make the guy colorful, human, more fun. Tiger is no victim. He has been beaten down to an unheard-of level, though. Especially considering fidelity isn’t exactly rampant among pro athletes.

If you don’t like Tiger Woods, well, you better deal with it. He’s not slinking around rehab clinics. He’s not holding awkward public apologies complete with mom as a humiliated stage prop.

He’s back on his turf now. He’s slapping a ball to within a couple feet of the pin. He’s striding up the 18th fairway like he owns the place. He’s waving at the rows and rows of the devoted sitting through the pelting rain just so they can show him they still love him.

Tiger Woods is back now, back like he never left, back like his Cadillac never met that fire hydrant in the first place.

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