There are two sides to this discussion. The first is why this win IS important. There are many reasons. First, he broke the winless drought last year and won three times. None of them, however, occurred late in the year. Many people thought he was in another slump and can no longer get it done on the weekends. He proved them wrong pulling away in the third round and coasting to a four shot win to essentially start his PGA season.
He also won in style, just like the Tiger of old. He shot in the sixties for the first three rounds (including a great 65 on Friday), and did his best once again as a frontrunner. He hit the ball very well, and his short game and putting was probably the best in the field. He dominated the par 5's too. Sound familiar? That's what he used to do tournament after tournament.
The other side of the discussion is why this ISN'T a big deal. Simply put, this wasn't done in a major. Tiger Woods is measured at this point by the number of majors he wins. Since his comeback, he has won some events and increased his world ranking (currently 2). But he has yet to win a major.
Last year, he was in position to win multiple majors before collapsing on the weekend. He even held the lead before falling apart. I know his game is coming together more and more, but until we see it on Sunday in a major, can we really say he is back?
I tend to side with the latter group. He isn't back until he wins another major. He isn't back until he takes out the world's best (including Rory) and begins to gain on Jack's record again (he's four back of 18). I do believe he'll win a major this year. In fact, he may win multiple majors this year. Of course, I thought he would last year too. Only time will tell I guess...
Andrew
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