There Is a Reason To Watch Golf Again: Tiger Woods Is Finally Out of His Cage

The sport of golf and its fans have gone through a huge recession since "Red Sunday" had to sit out for a while due to his ACL injury in the left knee. The ratings have plummeted and the other big names such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, and Sergio Garcia have not lived up to the hype in order to make golf more interesting to watch. 

Golf fans, you won't have to suffer anymore as Eldrick "Tiger" Woods will return to the golf course next week at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Tiger made his official announcement today and said that he is now ready to play again, which is a good sign for the PGA Tour. Tiger's last tournament was the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, which he won in a playoff over Rocco Mediate. Tiger played through suffering and pain in his ailing left knee to play 91 holes of golf to win.

Woods is the defending three-time champion of the Accenture Match Play Championship—perfect timing for him since he is also being sponsored by Accenture.

Who knows if Tiger will be rusty or still be the same player he was when he left, but either way it goes, he is golf's Superman and the sport needs him desperately. Woods will bring a lot of media attention, and ratings will continue to rise once he is on the golf course again.

Tiger is currently second all-time to Jack Nicklaus in majors with 14—only four behind the Golden Bear's 18. Tiger has accomplished so much that he could retire right now and be considered the "Greatest Golfer of All Time."

He is still the No. 1 player in the world despite missing half of last season, and is one of the highest paid athletes in sports history. He is also still under contract with EA Sports to have his name on golf video games for every console.

Woods and his wife Elin recently had a baby boy, Charlie, on Feb. 8. A win would be a great way for this father of two kids to start his 2009 PGA Tour campaign.

Other golfers beware, "Red Sunday" is back to put the fear in you.