Back to beginnings

The announcement from Tiger Woods,that he will return to golf at the Masters in April,was perhaps inevitable. After the bruising experience of having his private affairs unravel in public so unexpectedly and so fast,his retreat into rehab has been edgy with speculation about his potential restoration to the sport. In a hyper-choreographed yet emotionally fraught public appearance in February,he left no doubt his return would be a measure of his recovery. And that he was anxious to begin recovery.

Woods return to competition is unlike any other in sport. And the manner in which he makes it will illumine golfs unique image and also his,in being its greatest star and also someone who single-handedly changed golf. His absence from the game is not on account of injury like Monica Seles,doping tests Shane Warne,or contemplated retirement Imran Khan. He is certainly not the first sportsperson to be hit by scandal and that it almost destroyed his career is perhaps a reflection of the way in which Woods portrayed himself as extraordinarily perfect. Righting that image,therefore,may be key to reconnecting to his endorsements. In Woods case,this image beyond the course is important,because he actually grew the interest in golf. Till Woods,the golf-watching public was different from that of other sports,they were essentially people who played golf. He infused the competition with so much more.

That is why the choice of the Augusta Masters is telling. Augusta gives its competitors more privacy,which Woods is evidently in need of. But with its conservative membership rules,victory at Augusta also made Woods career so suggestive of social progress. In 1997,the course set him off on a fairytale career. Now,can it help him triumph over his nightmarish moment of reckoning?