Tiger Woods' First Two Events Can Make Us Believers Again in 2012

Following his win at the 2011 Chevron World Challenge, Tiger Woods is looking to keep that momentum going into the 2012 season. 

He'll make his golfing debut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in the United Arab Emirates, on January 26th.

The next week he'll return to his home state of California to play in the Pebble Beach AT&T National Pro-Am for the first time in 10 years.

Among the full-field of talented players the Abu Dhabi tournament touts are the reigning U.S. Open champ, Rory McIlroy; World Number 1, Luke Donald; and the tournament's defending champion, Martin Kaymer

Tiger's performance here will be a great indication of where his game is at going into his 2012 PGA Tour debut at Pebble.

Although Tiger hasn't played at the AT&T in 10 years, he's no stranger to Pebble Beach.

In 2000 he won the AT&T and then again with his historic win at the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 strokes, which was one of the most impressive wins of his career. He returned in 2010 to play the U.S. Open where he finished 4th.

With new-found confidence in his game, an improved putting stroke, and momentum, I'd say that Tiger Woods has everything he needs to perform well right out of the gate. 

If he doesn't perform in these first two tournaments, look to hear a lot of "I'm really close", "I just need to play like I practice", and "I'm there, but the putts aren't falling" until he DOES card a decent performance which hopefully won't take until the 2012 Chevron World Challenge.