Tiger Woods is back for good as Matsuyama runs away with fifth title of 2016

Albany Tiger Woods moves the needle said Jordan Spieth May be he is the needle itself And despite being 11 shots ahead of Tiger at the start of the final round eventual winner Hideki Matsuyama said more than anyone else he feared Tiger the most The accolades kept pouring in And this was for a man who had just finished 15th in a field where only 17 of the 18 completed 72 holes at the Hero World ChallengeBut also remember this was the man who has 14 Majors 79 PGA Tour titles and over 100 titles worldwide in his cabinets And he was returning after 16 months and of them six were spent without touching a club and wondering if he would ever get to play the game he had dominatedIn one week he gave a lot of answers to all those questions Sure he did not win he was not even close but the signs are that he could well win And it could even a MajorJack Nicklaus feels Tiger could still get to that magic number of 18This week Matsuyama showed how much he has grown in terms of converting talent into wins as he moved to dead last in 2015 to the very top in 2016 at Hero World Challenge Four wins in last five starts and there was T5 at Tour Championships before that and a win earlier in the year making it five for 2016 But the modest and prodigious Matsuyama dismisses the thoughts that he may be the best ever from Japan He said he needs to win 100 times like Jumbo Ozaki to even think of itMatsuyama won by a handy two shots ahead of Henrik Stenson who rounded of his best year at 40 with another second place Stenson who won his maiden Major at the Open and a silver at the Olympics had two wins four seconds two thirds and five other Top10s in a year that would be tough to replicate at his age But as he says who knowsMatsuyama who spoke through an interpreter was content to stay in the shadows if that was possible as Tigerrsquos return overshadowed all others this week But the young and humble Japanese star who will be gunning for his maiden Major in 2017 was happy to play second fiddle even as his finest year came to an endComing back to Tiger every third hole he played was a birdie ndash 24 birdies in 72 hole It was the best in the field this week ndash Matsuyama had only 22 besides two eaglesTiger also shot the worst round of the week ndash 76 on Sunday and it included three doubles But when you think of the number of naysayers who said he may not even break 80 at Albany he silenced them all His swing looked in place the chipping which was once a near embarrassment with duffs was fine and in general the short game was as good as it could be without having been tested in tournament conditions for 16 months His old putter the Scotty Cameron was back in action and there were times when those monsters dropped or nearly did that familiar Tiger celebration and pump was almost backTiger had all those birdies but what stymied him was the rust and that showed up in eight bogeys and six doubles the latter hurting him most But he was smiling all around He was happy to healthy after the strain of 72 holes All he wants is to play and he knows the results will follow He is likely to cut back from even the short schedule of 1820 events he used to have and is likely to play around 15 or so But when and where that begins is still in the realms of speculation His manager has said there have been offers Doubtless one of them would be from the Middle East ndash either Abu Dhabi or Dubai but Tiger was refraining from spelling it out We have not discussed that is all he would sayHowever be sure this comeback is for good And soon the trophies could roll in And so will the crowds at golf courses around the world