He remains the top pick in any hacker’s fantasy fourball, so when Donald Trump fancies a quick 18 holes, who’s he gonna call? “Hey Tiger, it’s the President of the United States, here. You busy tomorrow?” The coming together of the world’s most powerful man and arguably the most significant figure in the history of golf glowed red across social media platforms. Sightings, video clips, Instagram shots flooded the ether as news agencies and sports networks scrambled to dissect the meaning of a round of golf at Trump National in Florida’s high-end barrio of Jupiter. World no.1 Dustin Johnson and ex-PGA Tour vet Brad Faxon made up the group, with the latter partnering Mr. President and missing a nine-foot birdie putt at the last to ensure the match finished all square. Trump was conducting business during the Thanksgiving holiday period from his Florida estate in nearby Mar-a-Lago. Before heading up to Jupiter, he held Middle East peace discussions over the phone with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as you do, and while there was interest in their exchange in some quarters, the real juice was in Tiger’s re-entry into golf’s atmosphere. Woods, who contests his first tournament since February when he lines up in his own tournament this week, the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, claims to be in better shape than at any time in the past three years following the latest surgery last April to cure a back problem that has required four interventions. That three previous operations failed, demonstrates not only the fragile nature of his disc issue but the poverty of medical provision to treat lower lumbar injury. Woods went into theatre for the first time a week before the Masters three years ago. Two more operations followed within a month of each other in the autumn of 2015 which kept him off the course for 15 months. His comeback at this very tournament a year ago saw him rack up a total of 24 birdies, the highest in the 18-man field but he finished ahead of only two players. He missed the cut at his next tournament, Torrey Pines in January this year, and withdrew after one round of the Desert Classic in Dubai with back spasms. So before we go galloping ahead full tilt with insane expectations, let’s remember we are talking about a man who turns 42 before Christmas, who before he was wheeled into theatre for the back operations, he had as many surgeries on his left knee. Oh wait, too late. The golfing telegraph is already awash with celebration. The Jupiter boys, led by Rickie Fowler and Johnson, plus Jason Day, have clapped him back to the tee. Faxon was moved to write an account of last week’s match in which he proclaimed a pain-free Tiger swinging the club with conviction and attitude. After practice in Albany this week Patrick Reed reported how far past his ball Tiger’s was flying. At this rate, he could be favourite for the Masters come Sunday.