Tiger Woods 2018 Review (so far!)

Hole19 -

With three separate 2018 PGA Tour events in the books, Tiger Woods' return to golf continues to progress at a pace which has surprised many fans of the sport.

The fourteen-time major winner now has his sights firmly set on the first major championship of the year and with Augusta National getting ready to host the 82nd Masters in a mere five weeks time, now is as good a time as any to evaluate the impact of his return so far.

What have his 2018 performances been like? How is the game shaping up? What are the chances of Woods contending for a fifth green jacket? It's all below.

Recent Performances

Farmers Insurance Open (25th-28th Jan)

Tiger's first start of 2018 came at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, a golf course where he had prevailed on eight previous occasions.

There was undoubted rustiness with the current world number 389 stating that his "feels" were all off. The driver was unreliable and landed him in a few tricky spots but there were a few green shoots of recovery to provide optimism.

By Sunday he had settled for a T-23 finish making it a solid, if unspectacular, showing in San Diego.

Catch the Tiger's best shots from Torrey Pines below:

Genesis Open (15th-18th Feb)

It was a rather more disappointing showing for Woods at the Riviera Country Club. His errant tee shots led to a real struggle throughout his two rounds on Thursday and Friday and he would eventually miss the +2 cut by four shots.

Hitting only 16 greens in regulation in his first 36 holes was ultimately his undoing; not a great week for the Genesis Open tournament host.

Relive Tiger's two days (and a missed cut) at Riviera Country Club below:

Honda Classic (22nd-25th Feb)

The golfing world could be nothing other than mightily impressed at Woods' performance at PGA National. One of the most telling stats of the week was that he led the field in proximity to the hole and when you set that alongside a T-12 finish - not to mention an eye-watering 128.42 MPH clubhead speed - it becomes hard to ignore the fact that Tiger could be on his way to challenging on Tour once again.

Tiger's next appearance?

The great man is yet to commit to any tournaments in the lead-up to The Masters on April 5th. With that said, he's on the preliminary list for the Valspar Championship in Florida starting March 8th and is highly likely to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill the following week.

It's possible that he may call it there, but don't be surprised if he uses the Houston Open as one last chance to fine-tune before heading for Georgia.

Chances at The Masters?

No player in the current field knows how to get it done around Augusta National better than Tiger Woods. While that be the case, there remains a doubt over his ability to seriously challenge at a PGA Tour event let alone a major championship.

Making the cut is probable; hitting the top-10 is possible; a win seems an unrealistic proposition at this point.

Let's hope we're proven wrong.

How do you rate Tiger's return to golf at this early stage? Has he a chance at The Masters? Who do you fancy for the Green Jacket? Let us know below.