TIGER WOODS IS back in the world’s top 50 this morning.
The former world No 1 finished third at the Australian Open over the weekend.
And that encouraging display sees Woods squeak in ahead of Retief Goosen by a mere 0.03pts.
Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano goes from 126th to 58th thanks to his play-off victory at the Barclays Singapore Open.
Luke Donald is still top of the pile while Rory McIlroy remains in second.
“I felt great,” Woods said yesterday after the tournament Down Under. “It’s nice to finally be healthy again.”
He has talked about his health a lot the last year, though it cannot be written off as an excuse. Tiger missed most of the summer while letting injuries to his left leg fully heal, which made him ineligible to play once he was feeling strong. This was only his second tournament in the last three months, and he showed plenty of progress.
For the first time since the Masters, when he was tied for the lead at the turn on Sunday until he stalled and tied for fourth, his name on the leaderboard meant something.
“It’s been since Augusta, I had the lead at Augusta on Sunday, that’s the last time I’ve been in that spot,” he said. “It’s been a long time. Unfortunately I haven’t played a lot of tournaments in between. But it was great to be out there. I had a chance. Unfortunately, I didn’t post the number I wanted to post.”
- additional reporting AP
