Will Tiger Woods Be World Number 1 Again?

A few years ago the facts were indisputable. No-one seemed to be able to beat Tiger Woods. He hit the ball the furthest and played some just simply stunning shots to win many major tournaments. He was a revelation to the world of golf and also an inspiration to many young people coming into the game. Sports always gain extra popularity when you get someone who adds interest to the game, someone who all the papers want to follow and everyone wants to be like. Tiger Woods was that person. I'm not sure that anyone else in recent history has done so much in terms of marketing for the game of golf.

But the question is - is Tiger Woods ever going to get back to those heady days when he outplayed everyone? Will he once again become one of the greatest golfers we have ever seen? I guess those are two separate questions. I think that if we see him win more titles in the coming years then he will cement his place in the history of golf as at least one of the greatest. However, at the moment, the chances of Tiger winning a major seem pretty remote and we have to wonder if he will ever get back on track. But the facts are there - he once was able to hit some amazing golf shots so in theory there is no reason why he can't do so again.

In terms of the greatest golfer of all time, sometimes it is easy to forget the feats of other golfers of the past like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player etc, all of whom have earned their places in the history books. Once these achievements have gone out of the memory of younger golf fans, they get a little bit forgotten.

Even after having 3 knee surgeries and with a 5 month layoff from professional golf he manages to come straight back into the game with a fourth place in The Masters. That was a great feat that shouldn't be forgotten.

But for Tiger Woods, with time out from golf because of his widely discussed personal problems, it was always going to be a bit of a struggle to get back into the game and dominate it how he did a few years ago. Having lost the prestige of being the Number 1 golfer in the world to Lee Westwood, and subsequently slipped further down the ranks with the likes of Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald in front of him, he still has a lot of work to do.

However, he is still a huge name in the game of golf and can draw in the crowds just by playing in a tournament (it was rumoured that he was paid $2 million dollars just to play in the Dubai Desert Classic in 2011, which was more money than the winner got!). With so many young people in particular looking up to him as a golfer if nothing else, is it only a matter of time before he rekindles the form he showed a few years ago?

The fact is that everyone wants Tiger Woods to play at their tournament, so maybe even if he isn't the best golfer in the world right now, he still holds the title of being most famous golfer in the world - after all who hasn't heard of Tiger Woods?

So at last Tiger Woods started to show some of his former glory at the Masters in 2011. At one point he was even in the joint lead at 10 under par. Many people had written him off before this and I had heard one round of golf that he shot described as a hack round the course. Well if this year's masters is anything to go by, Tiger will be back on form before too long. He obviously still has the drive and passion to play great golf so it is just about the ability to harness that into some solid tournament play in the next few months and years.

Unfortunately due to continued injuries Tiger Woods did not take part in the US Open or the Open at Royal St Georges. Hopefully he can get fit to start making a comeback soon. Having said that, it seems the longer he is away from the game, the more players come up in the ranks and gain public support with their personalities and their playing (only one of which Tiger seems to have got the best of in my opinion).

So with all these other players, and in particular young ones like Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and others catching the public attention, will Tiger ever get back to his once iconic status?

So in July 2011 Tiger Woods made more moves towards some major changes in his game and he sacks his caddie, Steve Williams. Williams had been with him for 12 years and was obviously a bit shocked by the decision. Williams subsequently went on to caddy for Adam Scott who he has worked for a couple of times in recent months in both the US Open and the Open so he was not out of a job for long. The pair sailed to victory shortly afterwards in the Bridgestone Invitational, with Williams slightly upstaging Scott in a post match interview where he clearly took a dig at Woods.

In September, Tiger announces that he has a new caddie, Joe LaCava, who was working for Dustin Johnson and prior to that worked for Fred Couples for 20 years. So could this be the big change that Tiger needs to get his game back on track?

So, fast forward to March 2012 and Tiger Woods achieves what he has been striving for since September 2009, his first tour victory in over 2 years. In a shoot out with Graeme McDowell, Woods shoots a final round 70 to McDowell's 74 to take the victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Orlando, Florida.

So, is this the start of him charting a course back into the world's top ten? He is certainly starting to play a bit better and if he can get back to even 90% of his former glory then he is in with a good chance of winning plenty more tournaments from now onwards.