New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

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Tiger Woods slowly making comeback

It has been five years since Tiger Woods held up a major championship trophy and eight since he put on a green jacket.

After his marriage to Elin Nordegren disintegrated in 2009, Woods suffered from a completely tarnished public image and lost nearly all of his corporate sponsorships. Woods announced that he would take a brief respite from golf to try and reconcile his personal blunders.

To the public, it all seemed surreal. Woods was usually an iceman — each of his moves was meticulously orchestrated. Yet all it took was one night for his intricately constructed veneer of personal and professional success to start ripping apart at the seams.

Scrambling to find solace, Woods tried to return to what he knew best — golf. But a slew of injuries to his left leg, each worse than the last, left him sidelined from golf and, in effect, from life.

Here we are in 2013: Woods has regained public favor and re-emerged as one of golf’s best competitors. As of March 26, Woods is once again the highest-ranked golfer in the world, having reclaimed the honor by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Tournament.

The performance itself was vintage Woods. He rested comfortably atop the leaderboard nearly the entire way and never let anyone get within one shot in the final round. When Ricky Fowler drained a 40-foot putt for a birdie to creep two shots behind the lead, Woods responded with a 25-foot birdie putt of his own and reestablished a buffer between himself and the field.

Woods coasted to the 18th hole and in the process tied a PGA Tour record that hadn’t been touched in 48 years: eight wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in just 16 years of on the PGA Tour.

Woods’ recent success on the golf course, his health and his restored public image — due in large part to a now public relationship with Olympic gold medalist skier Lindsay Vonn — bring us to ask: Is he back?

“I’m getting there,” Woods said in an interview with ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski. ”I’m very pleased that some of the shots that I struggled with last year are now strengths. One of the things that we need to continue to work on is getting it more refined.”

In a separate statement, Woods recognized that his recent success “is a byproduct of hard work, patience and getting back to winning golf tournaments.”

The next step up for Woods would be to win a major, and he will have the chance to do so early next month at the Augusta National. There will be that constant reminder that he is still four major championships away from tying Jack Nicklaus’ record for most major victories (18) and five wins short of tying Sam Snead’s record of most PGA Tour victories (82).

Now that he’s a seasoned competitor at 37 years old, the window of opportunity is closing quickly. But Woods has already proven that nobody should doubt his skill and competitive streak again.

Nishaad Ruparel is a staff writer. Email him at [email protected].

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