Like many of us watching from home, one of golf’s legends, Jack Nicklaus, is simply in awe of the way Tiger Woods has resurrected his career after such a long stretch of being down.
Speaking about Woods’ current comeback, the Golden Bear admits he’s “amazed” by what Woods has done.
“I’ve been amazed at how well he has come back,” Nicklaus said, per ESPN’s Bob Harig. “I’ve watched his golf swing. He’s had to accommodate his fusion and I think that his golf swing is considerably better than it ever was because of that.”
The “fusion” Nicklaus speaks of here, in case you were unaware, refers to the spinal procedure Woods underwent last spring, which was the fourth surgery on his back in total. It was an anterior lumbar interbody fusion designed to relieve lower back and nerve pain down his leg. And it worked. In a blog post on Woods’ website last May, he wrote, “It is hard to express how much better I feel. It was instant nerve relief. I haven’t felt this good in years.”
Since that surgery, Woods has slowly worked his way back into being the Tiger of old, and the tournaments he competed in prior to the Masters were proof of this. He very nearly won the Valspar Championship, coming in second as crowd rallied behind him. Then a week later he tied for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, an errant drive proving to be his downfall on the home stretch.
Now he’s the heavy betting favorite to win the 2018 Masters, showing just how far he’s come since this time a year ago. With all that said, it’s safe to say Nicklaus isn’t the only one who’s amazed by what we’re seeing from Woods these days.
If Tiger manages to win the Masters, it’s also safe to say the golf world might explode.