Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach: Excellence in Tough Conditions Must Frighten World

Watching Tiger Woods surgically pick Pebble Beach apart on a blustery, rainy day is eerily similar to what we saw during his heyday. 

Whether or not he will turn it into a win remains to be seen, but that doesn't really make a difference when forecasting his 2012 season. 

The problem with Woods for the last two seasons has not been that he can't play. Even playing sparingly with injuries and having God knows what going through his head, Woods has managed to put good rounds together. But those rounds usually came once or twice a tournament, and in good conditions. 

As we speak, he is in the middle of a third consecutive strong round, the latter two coming in poor conditions. It's reminiscent of what we saw during his dominant years at courses like Pebble Beach. 

In the 2000 U.S. Open, Woods was 12-under when no other player was under par. Two years later at Bethpage Black, there were holes where some golfers couldn't even reach the fairway. But for Woods, It genuinely looked like another course as he picked it apart. 

What we're not seeing here—at least not on the scorecard—is a struggle. He is playing in tough conditions on a major championship course, but still finding fairways and greens. When he misses the fairway, the strength is back and he is muscling the ball onto the green. 

All of this is a long-winded way of saying that if Tiger isn't all the way back, he's dangerously close. We're not seeing the struggles from round to round, or even hole to hole. When a bad tee shot is hit, Woods is still making a par. When it's a good tee shot, he's making birdies. 

It is only a matter of time before this turns into a win. Actually, it won't be long before we see this turn into a lot of wins. 

For the first time in years, the talk about Tiger is positive. He is not collapsing after a good round or turning a bad shot into a disaster. No, we are seeing nothing but positives. 

I certainly wouldn't want to be anyone else in the AT&T field on Sunday, not if a win is needed.

But whether he cashes in with a win on Sunday or not, this is going to be a resurgent year.

Since the disastrous PGA Championship last summer, we've been seeing progress in his game. Playing well in bad conditions is another form of progress that means the rest of the world has to look out.

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