Tiger Woods Intimidation Factor Could Begin His Next Historical Golf Run

While spending the early morning watching Holly Sonders' wardrobe selection drown out the spoken word on Morning Drive, the realization hit me: It is again Tiger Woods' world, and everyone else is just passing through. 

The Tiger intimidation factor is seeping back onto the PGA Tour.

It can be seen in drips and drabs right now, but, make no mistake, it is there. It could be the final piece of the comeback puzzle and could kick off another historical run.

Justin Rose's postgame interview next to Bay Hill's 18th green after the second round of Arnie's tournament was illuminating in the bigger scope of things—another reminder that Tiger has meticulously put himself right back where he was before a driveway mailbox got in the way of his historic ride. 

Rose, who is the leader of the tourney and four shots ahead of Tiger, volunteered a resounding applause line for his playing partner in sound-bite form. What Rose said is not important—that he commented about Tiger's play in an awestruck way while leading the tournament is.

Rarely does a player comment about a playing partner in these little interview sessions greenside and never when he is leading and supposed to be in the spotlight.

This little soundbite shows that Tiger is getting back into players' heads.

So the intimidation begins, and it may be the final piece in the Tiger comeback. These guys can all play, but when they lose the mental edge to Tiger, it's over.

Some ask why I always write about Tiger.

A journalism bottom line is when you're watching history, concentrate on the historical figure creating it.  

Tiger is the historical figure.

We all spent the Tiger-less years of recent past listening to the "experts" bore us (well, they bored me) with weekly coronation ceremonies of the next big thing. 

With the exception of Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy, who won multiple majors during that time frame, it all seemed so silly. 

Mickelson needed the Tiger slump in order to stop choking himself with second- and third-place Major medals around his neck and finally start lifting the heavy, first-place trophies that really look good in your "it's-all-about-me" room, but his accomplishments were pure greatness.

Yes, I wrote in an earlier article that golf fans may finally have a real Major rivalry with Tiger coming back and McIlroy (notice I'm not giving him first-name status) roaring ahead of the rest of the field.

That may have been premature, although winning two majors that fast and that young was historical.

But other than Mickelson and McIlroy, we've had a cascade of pretenders who have fascinated fans (because the golfing press tells us they should) during Tiger's lost-boy years.

They win once or twice, have a career-best week that aligns with a Major championship, cut funny videos or seemingly always have a cameraman in tow when cavorting beachside with impossibly beautiful women. 

This is all great for growing the game, but historical it's not.

Watching Tiger this year, he's outpaced my expectations.

Let's be realistic. Tiger has won about 30 percent of the events he's teed it up in for the last two years.  That's even a bit ahead of his career pace, which, at about 25 percent, is in another stratosphere. 

He's done this with as much stealth as a Tiger Woods can. It has been more under-the-radar than the first meteoric rise.

But when he came on the scene more than a decade ago, he didn't have to contend with Golf Boys video anticipation, the world's longest driver being released every week or the weekly crowning of yet another youngster who could play and make a fashion statement at the same time.

No disrespect to any of the world's greatest players. I wish I could do what they can with a golf ball, but Tiger has a different take on the game.

He doesn't just want to win; he wants to make history.  When his mental game is firing on all cylinders, he can't be stopped. That intimidates everyone, and Tiger is on the precipice of that reality again.

In business terms, the PGA is approaching the second quarter of 2013, and the stock that is Tiger Woods is rising faster than Apple during a product launch. 

The golf side stories that were played up as headline stories for the past few years are now slipping back under the fold where they belong as important golf history takes center stage again. 

And that means Tiger stories drive while everything else golf sits in the backseat. Tiger-haters, deal with it.

I think the players like it in a strange sense. Their press-stress goes down, and their moneymaking machine changes its calculations from addition to multiplication. 

Getting back to Tiger's game specifically, this is all possible not because of how he strikes the ball but because of what happens between his ears and the mental effect it has on every other player on the PGA tour. 

Put simply, Tiger's confidence up equals the rest of the PGA players' confidence down—a brutal reality for the tour.

Yes, it was just a sound bite by Rose about Tiger's game, but it wasn't really off the cuff.  Unconsciously, Rose was saying the same thing many other players are starting to think. 

After a long hibernation, Tiger is back on the prowl for history.

And it's damn intimidating.