AS ALWAYS with Tiger Woods, who returns to competition at the Memorial tournament in Ohio today, expectation levels are pitched high and negative comment when he fails to meet those assumptions is exaggerated.
Although there's been considerable debate about Tiger's shortcomings since he returned to action after recovering from reconstructive knee surgery, the truth is, in the five stroke-play events he's entered since spending nine months on the sidelines,
Tiger has finished in the top ten at all of them and won once at Bay Hill.
Moreover, he's 38 under par for his last 20 rounds and has banked in excess of $2 million over the past few months.
This is a long way removed from crisis golf and it was little wonder after the Players Championship when the winner, Henrik Stenson, pleaded with the American media to cut Woods, who finished eighth, a little more slack.
Comfortable in the skin of the world's No 1 player, Tiger knows the burden he must carry. That said, even he wonders if recent tales of his supposed decline are out of proportion.
"That record isn't too bad considering how long I was away from the game," Woods reflected. "It's just frustrating when you're in position to win and don't get it done. I just need more repetitions. I need to fine-tune everything. My reconstructed left knee enables me to finally make the swing that my instructor, Hank Haney, and I have been working on for years."
Tiger, who won his 14th major title while severely curtailed by his knee at Torrey Pines a year ago, still has work to do before defending the US Open at Bethpage on Long Island later this month, but knows what areas of his game need to improve. He's also aware of changes to the venue where he triumphed seven years past.
"The US Open will be here soon," he added. "I'm definitely going to try to go to Bethpage to play and take a look at the course. They've made a few changes since I won there in 2002 and I want to check them out."
As ever with Woods, the majors take priority. Rocco Mediate, who lost out to Tiger at Torrey Pines, knows that no-one should underestimate what the world's best golfer has already achieved in the most important events.
"You know, with Tiger winning 14 of them already, it's just mind boggling how good someone has to be to do that," he observed yesterday.
Woods has a decent track record at the Memorial, hosted by Jack Nicklaus, where he's won on three previous occasions, though he missed last year's tournament through his knee injury.
The full article contains 451 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
