Unmistakably, unbelievably, unconditionally, Tiger-mania is back. Twenty-one years after he made red shirts a thing on Sundays, Tiger Woods returns to the sacred turf where it all began, where the most extravagant fist-pump in golf knocked over the old order, where the game was reborn in his image, the Masters.
If the first coming of Woods at Augusta National 21 years ago was characterised by shock and awe, the resurrection is one of gratitude and relief. We thought these days were gone.
It was only ten months ago that police officers in Florida were inviting him to walk in a straight line while pickled in prescription drugs, and posting the results online. The mugshot that went around the world was a cruel commentary on the scale of Woods’ decline.
Yet here he is, pain free and swinging like it was 1997. His second place finish at the Valspar Championship, followed by fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational were vibrant confirmation of a sustained recovery from the broken days of last summer following a fourth operation to fuse the damaged vertebrae in his troublesome back.
He closed to within a stroke of the lead at both events on the back-nine on Sunday, utterly transforming the mood around the game.
Masters 2018: Assessing Tiger Woods' chances of victory
Assessing Tiger Woods' chances of victory at the Masters