Presidents Cup 2011: Clinching Cup Puts Tiger Woods Back on Track

Since his wife chased him out of the house with one of his own clubs, Tiger Woods has seen life turn upside down. Fortunately, it looks like the trip to the land down under might have turned it right-side up. Woods won his singles match over Aaron Baddeley to clinch the tournament for the US. 

It marks the fourth consecutive year the Americans have won the cup and the second time in which Woods has clinched it. Woods closed out Baddeley 4 and 3. Steve Stricker's winning match over Y. E. Yang remained, but it was a mere formality. 

The win followed Woods' third place finish in the Australian Open, and while he only had the one win in the Cup, the losses more a result of his partner's play than his own. Woods played solid in the tournament. 

Presidents Cup captain, Fred Couples, had been roundly criticized fro picking Woods for the team because Woods had struggled horribly since his return to play after first taking time off to deal with his personal situation and then an injury. 

Woods clinching the title though more or less vindicates Couples' choice of Woods and suggests his career isn't quite over yet. 

The question now is whether Woods is really back. He has not won a tournament since returning. The win portends to better things to come. His putting was excellent, indicating that his head might be back in the game. 

Tiger Woods has 14 Majors wins already in his career and was on trek to chase down Jack Nickalus, the all-time leader. His struggles had people wondering if he would ever win another. 

According to his website's schedule, Woods next tournament will be the Chevron World Challenge, December 1-4. It will be interesting to see if Woods continues to show he's on the comeback trail when he returns. If so, next season could see him rise back to the top.