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STAR ATTRACTION . . . Tiger Woods remains one of the majors of golf despite his limited appearances

LONDON. — Despite all that has happened in the world of golf in 2017, the lasting impression will be that of Tiger Woods returning to the sport that is in much better shape with him around.

It was exactly the same situation at the end of 2016 when Tiger made a return from a 16-month lay-off, and a year on from that we find ourselves in the same place asking ourselves the same question: Is Tiger Woods really back?

He documented every step of his recovery on social media, posting teasers of his swing in practice before he eventually decided to announce when exactly he would make his comeback.

He made his return from the latest nine months on the rehab trail at the Hero World Challenge (as he did in 2016), a tournament that he hosts in aid of his foundation, and managed to card three sub-60 rounds to finish T9 on -8.

Although it is still very early days he looked in great physical shape and if he is able to sort out his mental demons he may very well be a factor in 2018, despite the fact that he is only going to be playing a very limited schedule.

As with all of his comebacks, he will be aiming to make the field at the Masters in April, so from now till then we will be keeping a close eye on his progress to see if he really is back.

So back to the year that was…

The first major of the year as always was the Masters at Augusta National, and it delivered yet another classic.

Sergio Garcia finally got his hands on a major title, fulfilling the potential he always had but struggled to reach. The Spaniard entered the winners circle on the back of a play-off victory against good friend Justin Rose.

Garcia had a chance to win it in regulation on the last hole but missed a five-foot birdie, and it seemed like he had missed his chance to get the major monkey off his back.

However it all came together for the Spaniard on the first playoff hole. Rose’s errant teeshot meant the Brit could only manage a bogey while Sergio put his approach 15-feet from the hole which left him with two putts to win the coveted Green Jacket. He only needed one shot though as he rolled in his birdie putt, which got the celebrations going.

Despite losing out on a second major title, Rose said losing to one of his closest friends made the loss easier to bare. Next up on the agenda was the US Open, and Brooks Koepka’s victory stretched the run of first time major winners to seven. The American equalled the record for the lowest winning under par total at -16 at Erin Hills, tying Rory McIlroy’s mark set in 2011.

The eventual champion did not have it all his way during the final round, with Brian Harman matching him for the most part as the two began a two-way battle for the championship. In the end, Harman was the one who blinked first with back-to-back- bogeys at 12 and 13 which allowed Koepka to cruise home to a four-shot victory.

Jordan Spieth got back to winning ways as he claimed his third major title, breaking the run of first time major winners which dated back to Jason Day’s triumph at the 2015 PGA Championship.

Spieth, who shot four rounds in the 60s at the Open, is just one major short (the PGA Championship) of completing a grand slam, having won the Masters and US Open in 2015.

Again the fight for the championship was a two horse race and this time the loser was Matt Kuchar. Spieth started the day three ahead, but a disastrous start of three bogeys in four holes threatened to derail the young American’s challenge.

He recovered though and the pair were still neck-and-neck at -8 on the 13 tee. Spieth erred again at the 14th, bogeying after a wild drive left him having to drop and play his approach from the adjacent practice green.

Jordan then went on a spree and picked up three birdies and an eagle in the closing four holes to lift the Claret Jug. Last but not least came the PGA Championship, where Justin Thomas claimed his first major triumph.

Thomas had already established himself as a rising star, picking up three victories in the season already (CIMB Classic, Tournament of Champions, Hawaii Open) and he firmly underlined that status with a two-stroke victory at the final major of 2017.

Louis Oosthuizen finished in a tie for second which saw the South African complete a somewhat unwelcome Grand Slam of second place finishes, and he responded to the unwanted record in the best way possible.

The USA and the International team came face-to-face for the 12th time to duel it out for the Presidents Cup at the Liberty National Golf Club. Though much had been expected form the International team, even if just from within their own camp, it was yet another cake-walk for the USA, who marched on to their 10th triumph.

By the time the singles matches rolled around on Sunday the International team had amassed a paltry 3.5 points, while the Americans scored 14.5, which pretty much spelled the end of the tournament as a contest.

Despite winning the singles 8.5 to 4.5 it was more a case of the US team being relaxed and expecting the win as opposed to the Internationals really turning the screw.

In the end it was another lopsided matchup that left more people questioning the value of such a tournament. The women’s golf world was dominated by the ladies from South Korea, with three of the four major going to home to the Asian nation.

Ryu So-yeon got the ball rolling winning her second Major title at the ANA Inspiration before Park Sung-hyun made it two from two in 2017 for Korea with her first US Women’s Open title. That win actually stretched the Korean major winning streak to three with Chun In-gee having won the Evian Championship at the end of 2016.

Danielle Kang then broke the streak with the American claiming the glory at the Women’s PGA Championship before a Korean got back into the winner’s circle in the form of In-Kyung Kim at the Women’s British Open.

Anna Nordqvist then rounded off the major winner’s line-up with her second major title and first Evian Championship title.

In the World Rankings three victories on the LPGA Tour helped Shanshan Feng rise form fourth at the beginning of the year to become the No 1 rated golfer while a winless year for Lydia Ko saw her drop from first to ninth in the world rankings.

Bernard Langer went one better than he did in 2016, when he won two majors on the Champions Tour, by picking up three major crowns in 2017. He also increased his total tournament haul in the year from four in 2016 to seven in 2017.

The German claimed the first two majors, the Regions Tradition and Senior PGA Championships, on the trot before Kenny Perry and Scott McCarron got in on the action at the US Senior Open and Senior Players Championship.

Despite picking up a third major title for the year at the Senior Championship and picking up three wins in the final five events of the season, Langer finished second to Kevin Sutherland in the Schwab Cup standing.

The year 2017 was not short of action or superstars, but as we head into 2018 all eyes, hearts and minds will be on Tiger Woods and his latest big comeback, as the world waits to see if the game’s biggest superstar can return to the heights that saw him endear himself to everyone who saw him swing a golf club. — AFP.