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A few years ago Tiger Woods could barely get out of bed and play with his kids.
Yesterday afternoon/evening (for us here in the U.S. time zones) he stepped up in the lead group of the US Presidents Cup team and was far and away the best player on a star-studded team that struggled mightily in the opening day of the event in which they plan a team of international players not from Europe.
If you’re not a golf nut, the Presidents Cup probably isn’t a blip on your sports watching radar. If you are a golf nut, it’s still just a little blip on your radar. It’s definitely no Ryder Cup but it’s still a fun, four-day team event that features some of the best players in the world and is usually won quite easily by Team USA.
That might not be the case this year, however, as four of the five US groups – which included the likes of Dustin Johnson (who stinks at these team events) and Gary Woodland (the reigning U.S. Open champ) – that played in Day 1 all laid an egg in their matches.
The one group that didn’t look so listless was Justin Thomas and 43-year-old Tiger Woods. Tiger did pretty much all the damage as he had six birdies on his round – including a great chip in that had him yelling at Thomas in excitement.
Watching Tiger, who’s also the team’s captain and in charge of making all the decisions for the team, casually play like the best player in the world again was something else. This was the same guy who was mocked over the years because his failing body led to so many sad moments on the golf course. Now he seems in complete control of his game again and it all looks so easy for the best to have ever done it.
Tiger is one of the last athletes out there who can still get fans of all ages to turn on a TV if he’s in contention and turn the clock back as they root him on. That Sunday in Augusta last April was an incredible mix of nostalgia and pride.
But then he struggled the rest of the season and it looked like maybe that Masters win was the last hurrah.
Now I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t. Maybe there is a lot more for him to do. He won a PGA Tour event in October in Japan. He’s playing like the Tiger of old in Australia. And now he’s the No. 6 ranked player in the world, which is bonkers when you think back to just a few years ago when things were at their worst for his game.
I just wish the Masters was next week because this all so fun to watch.
Tiger has had his well-documented problems off the course and I know there are many who will never forgive him for it. But I’m a sucker for redemption stories and watching Tiger climb back to the top has been pretty great.
The Presidents Cup might not mean anything to you and watching golf at night in December might feel incredibly weird.
But this could be one of those weeks where Tiger brings us all back yet again.
And hopefully he can bring the US team back, in the process.
Wednesday’s biggest winner: The city of Toronto.
Kawhi Leonard returned to Toronto last night for the first time since winning a championship with the Raptors last June and boy did the fans give him a warm welcome back. The people of Toronto showed nothing but love for a man who gave him everything he had for one year. Leonard finally got his ring, too, on what was an awesome night for everyone involved. Well done, Toronto.
Quick hits: Top UFC KOs… Kelly Slater’s perfect 10… Redbox Bowl’s mistake… And more!
– I counted down the top 10 UFC knockouts of 2019. There was a lot of beautiful violence in the Octagon this year.
– You need to see Kelly Slater’s perfect 10 on this huge wave. Wow.
– The Redbox Bowl made a big mistake on their official T-shirts which should annoy Cal fans.
– Antonio Brown lashed out at the NFL again, which he should probably stop doing.
(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)