TOUR Insider: Youth ready to face Tiger Woods bubble

ALBANY, Bahamas – FedExCup champion Justin Thomas set the over/under market at four questions. Turns out the over won when there were five Tiger Woods questions before his own exploits were asked about in Albany. He might have plumped his cash on the under as he playfully asked if anyone wanted to know about him just as the fourth Woods verbal volley came his way. And his press conference finished with another on Woods taking the total to six, just under half those thrown at him from the assembled media. It’s possibly a new dawn for Thomas and the rest of the youth brigade that combined last season to dominate the PGA TOUR. There were 18 wins last season by players 25 and under. 18. That’s eight more than the previous best of 10 which came in a year when a young Woods won nine of them. Never before has Thomas, or Jordan Spieth, or Daniel Berger, or Hideki Matsuyama, or Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and the like actually really seen the real Woods in action. They know of him. Heck, half the reason they play the game is because they grew up watching him. “I’m probably just as excited to watch it as you are,â€� Thomas told the media while revealing he still YouTube’s Woods highlights.  “I just get a front row seat to it on Thursday, but I’m also looking forward to trying to kick his ass, to be perfectly honest.â€� His final comment came with a smile and was indicative of the “newâ€� Tiger. Woods has befriended many of the young players, often having a hit with Thomas or Rickie Fowler or others. And they constantly needle each other. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It goes both ways,â€� Woods said when told of Thomas’ jibe. The young guns haven’t had to face the steely Woods of old. The one who wouldn’t turn his head on the range or course to acknowledge you. He’d only move his eyes – and they’d look right though you. And they may not ever see it. But, if Woods does start becoming a regular presence on the TOUR again and if he does start putting himself into contention once in a while, they will feel a whole new level of pressure. “If he gets back to that point every week he’ll be the favorite and he’ll win a lot of tournaments,â€� defending Hero World Challenge champion Matsuyama said.  “So I’m really excited to see what happens and also to be able to compete and hopefully get better and be right there with him.â€� Veteran Rod Pampling recently said he was extremely hopeful Woods could return to his heady days just for the drama it could create for the youth. He’s not sure they know exactly what they’re wishing for. “I want to see him stare down a few of these young guys so they can experience what it’s like when the hairs stand up on the back of your neck or when he’s the guy you have to chase,â€� Pampling grinned. “They’ve seen his dominance as kids, but they’ve never felt it. Realistically if he got to 75 percent of where he used to be he’d still be able to win a couple of times a year.â€� But Spieth and Thomas aren’t deterred. They want to see Woods get to that level. Not only do they want to see it first hand, instead of on YouTube, but they also want to test themselves against the best – not an injured version of it. Spieth has in fact played with Woods on seven official TOUR rounds and has never been beaten by the 79-time winner. But this was not Woods at his best. “Growing up watching him kind of dominate and then idolizing and now having gone through similar situations, it makes him underrated,â€� Spieth explained. “Just the mental toughness he had is still underrated even though it’s rated pretty high. It’s rated best ever. “I certainly hope he becomes healthy enough to get rounds in, to get tournaments in to where he can kind of get back into where he’s competing week in and week out and if that’s the case, then as long as we stay healthy, I imagine paths will cross at some point.â€� And while they’ve been enjoying the limelight for their amazing success, will they find any frustration in being dwarfed by the Woods media and fan juggernaut? Will they be able to handle the focus constantly being on someone else? They are after all millennials who – at times – are prone to crave affirmation. Adam Scott once talked of how when he was in his early 20s, and Woods was dominating, it was almost impossible not to feel like you were playing for second. And when you entered the Woods arena, with the fans going mental… well trying to stay in your own game was near impossible. The modern-day youngster is without this fear. And the experience they already have will put them in good stead. But it doesn’t make them immune. While Woods is all friendly now – are the youngsters prepared to handle him on the heat of a Sunday if he turns hard core? “I never played against that person,â€� Thomas says. “I’ve watched him on TV but until you’re there and you stand and you watch the golf shots, you hear the sound it makes, you watch the putts, chips, then you really get an idea, but I guess we’ll just wait to have to see.â€� We are certainly still in the wait and see bracket – but it would be something special if in six months from now the old and the new are both knocking down flags and climbing leaderboards.

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