3 Burning Questions About Tiger Woods' Return

Who needs the Hall of Fame game in nearby Canton, OH?  

The great American tragedy is about to unfold in Akron.  This has a script that Shakespeare would love.  A player returns to a place of great success.  Seven times he showed up on the green grass at Firestone Country Club to beat down the field and win.  Smiling like a Cheshire cat that stole another rat-field heist, Woods comes back to the old haunt.  

Woods, has more than a severe injury to overcome.  In a sport pervaded by honor, he has used all his mulligans.  His well chronicled adulterous relationships sent his marriage through a ball washer.  The legends of the game questioned his honesty.  Those closest to him were calculating in their testimony about a guy they thought they knew.  Some were even loyal, like his longtime caddie and groomsman.

One bad driving experience just past his driveway, ruptured achilles tendons in both legs and an agent that left the Yankees of sports representation.  Now it is about to unfold near the town that has a history of sports catastrophe's.  Things like the fumble, the drive and the failed save happened nearby.

Now, in less than 72 hours he is going to stroll to the first tee with a new caddie, a rehabilitated lower body and enough golf chatter in the gallery to fill a trashy novel series.

He built the golf division at Nike, while Anthony Kim was in middle school.  He caused the Green coats at Augusta National to change their course.  He created a dimension in golf that caused even the non-caring fringe sports fan to actually watch the sport on Sunday.  Now, he will make a comeback.

We are about to witness something far better than Ben Hogan's return after a car crash.  We are going to see the actual driver of something far more unparalleled, try and escape from a place we never knew existed. 

Woods will try life's most daunting recovery shot.  And, three questions will determine his success:

1. IS HE REALLY HEALTHY?

The golf swing is one of the most unorthodox movements to a human body.  The atrophy to the arms, shoulders, legs and wrists have ended careers of the best.  Woods has visited orthopedic specialists dating back to his freshman year at Stanford in 1994. He has ruptured the Achilles tendon in his right leg, and strained the same one in his left. He thought he could compete at The Player's Championship.  Forty-two strokes on the front-nine Thursday was the end.

Some have questioned his common sense about returning to a sport in which shaft torque can't be reached without body torque.

2. IS HE SEEKING REDEMPTION or REVENGE?

When it really comes down to the athlete, what drives his instincts?  Is he fueled by a quality called champions envy?  Has he been witnessing the young Northern Ireland lad who squandered his first big chance at Augusta and the golf world has embraced as the new U.S. Open Champion.  Does he fear that the American golf fans love affair with the left-hander from Rancho Santa Fe is overblown?  Does he want to squash his competitors like a jack hammer on a golf tee?

Or,

Does he simple want to climb the mountain back to show he has learned that from a bad lie in life?  That, after some poor choices, he has the ability to do things the right way.  Will Tiger Woods display redemptive qualities on and off the course?

One question was answered. By choosing Bryon Bell as his new caddie, Woods steers clear of any public relations disaster.  His longtime business partner and friend has toted the bag before.  This is step one in the right direction for Woods' redemptive path.

If he was to add Tony Navarro to the mix, it would have been a public relations disaster.  

3. A NEW BEGINNING or the TRAGIC ENDING?

Tom Watson recently sat down to discuss his sport, and he shared that it is much more difficult to stay at the top of the game, than to get to the top.  And, Tiger Woods has been on top for a long time.  Can he manage to climb back.  Can we witness a reclaimation project that satisfies the golfing purists?

His play in Akron will go a long way toward answering this question.  And, his legacy will be shaped by more than his scorecard.

Or,

Does the Bridgestone mark the tragic ending?  At 35, Woods may never regain his old form.