Tiger Woods Finishes in 3rd Place at Abu Dhabi Championship

Tiger Woods is ready to soar in 2012, and his third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship proves it.

After starting the tournament with a 70, Woods rattled off a 69 and 66 in Round 2 and Round 3. He finished the tournament with a 72, just two shots behind Robert Rock at -11.

Rock was the steadier and most consistent player in the tournament. It was the 24th top-10 finish of his career, and this one, he will remember forever, as he went toe-to-toe with Woods and Rory McIlroy, who finished in second, one shot behind Rock.

Of course, Tiger’s career is based on winning on the final day, but that was the old Tiger. We have to remember that Woods hasn’t been the same guy in recent history so taking any positives out of a tournament is what must be done.

The old Woods would have taken this tournament by the throat, seizing victory on the final day. But the new Tiger has to be looked at by his body of work in the tournament. While his final day was average, his tournament was well-above. 

Woods has played much better of late, and his confidence level seems to be higher than it has been in years. We will see how that translates to the PGA Tour when he makes his 2012 debut Feb. 9 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.