Tiger has announced that he will return to golf at The Masters. Of course he will. Nothing like a little Tiger media mania to upstage golf’s best tournament.

From his website:

“The Masters is where I won my first major, and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta.

“The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it’s been awhile since I last played.

“I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy, and I am continuing my treatment. Although I’m returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life.

“When I finally got into a position to think about competitive golf again, it became apparent to me that the Masters would be the earliest I could play. I called both Joe Lewis and Arnold Palmer and expressed my regrets for not attending the Tavistock Cup and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I again want to thank them both for their support and their understanding. Those are fantastic tournaments, and I look forward to competing in them again.

“I would also like to thank the Augusta National members and staff for their support. I have deep appreciation for everything that they do to create a wonderful event for the benefit of the game.”

I feel kind of sorry for the guy who wins this year’s Green Jacket (and I’m betting it won’t be Tiger). His name will forever be lost in the mania.

Phil Mickelson’s Secrets of the Short Game

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: Clear and Concise

Phil Mickelson has had a rough start to 2010, thanks mostly to an errant driver, but he’s still regarded as one of golf’s greats from fifty yards in.  In Secrets of the Short game, Phil offers hackers one of the better basic texts I’ve seen on putting, pitching, chipping, flopping and sand play.

The book apparently is a supplement to Phil’s DVD (which I’ve not seen), but I think it works well as a stand alone text. It’s a coffee table style book, with huge, gorgeous photos and relatively short blocks of accompanying text. The brevity is a strength, however, as Phil and coauthors Guy Yocom and T.R. Reinman were wise enough to let the photos do most of the talking.

Phil begins each of the chapters with some personal reflection, recounting how he has played the shot in question in critical situations. He then gets into step-by-step procedures for each type of short game shot. Phil explains ball position, face position, angle of attack, and so on, as well as offering practice routines. The photos illustrate each point with an appropriate shot of Phil.

Much of what is in the book, I already “knew,” but had never put into so many words. It was nice to see them laid out in black and white. An example: the design of a center shafted putter requires that the stroke go straight back and straight through, while a heel shafted putter requires a stroke with an arc. Another: A fluffly lie requires a sweeping, flatter swing plane. Trying to pick it cleanly more often than not will result in a thin shot; trying to explode on the ball leaves it short.

That’s not to say the book’s material is all this obvious or simple.  There’s also an awful lot that I hadn’t really considered. But the text and photos make all of the points abundantly clear. For me, a clear advantage of the book over the DVD is that I could study each photo for as long as I wanted, paying attention to different parts of the setup, face, shaft angle and so on.

The only real flaw in the book is that the photos are all in the reverse of what I’m used to seeing, since Phil is a lefty (actually, he’s a righty, but plays left because he learned by mirroring his father’s moves). I don’t think it’s a significant flaw, though.

Recommended.

BRIDGESTONE Tour B330-RXS

Bridgestone had a terrific idea last year with its Bridgestone RX Tour, a “tour level” ball designed for players with slower swing speeds. Although it was too expensive for my tastes, I did try it and found that it worked very well.

Now, Bridgestone has released the RXS, a version that’s supposed to offer more spin control and a softer feel. I’ll give it a try, but I’m still waiting for them to get that price point down to the low 30s at least.

Farmers Insurance apparently decided that they enjoyed the results of sponsoring the San Diego Open (Formerly the Buick). They’ve signed on for four more years.

The purse will be 5.8 million—$500,000 more than Buick was offering.

That’s good news all around.

Steve Stricker made some pretty cutting comments this past weekend about Tiger’s return to golf:

“

Whenever he comes back it’s going to draw a lot of attention to that tournament. I don’t know if Augusta would like that to happen, you know? To turn it into ‘Tiger’s Comeback Tournament’ instead of the Masters tournament, itself. Hopefully, he comes back before then. You’d think, as a player, being gone for so long, he’d want to come back before.”

I wouldn’t put it past Tiger to think about making his comeback at a Major. But maybe now that he has Ari Fleischer at the PR helm, more reasonable heads will prevail. I think a Masters comeback would be a public relations disaster, bringing every golf writer on the planet to speculate that Woody thinks he’s bigger than the game itself.

And speaking of Fleischer, I’ve come to the conclusion that the “leaks,” with various dates for Tiger’s return are just trial balloons. That sort of thing goes on in Washington all the time, and it’s a tactic Fleischer is intimately familiar with: send out a few ideas as “leaks,” and see how the public reacts. One rumor says the Tavistock Cup; another, Bay Hill; a third, the Masters. I have no doubt that some “insider” also will float the notion that Tiger will sit out the Masters. Then it’s just a matter of choosing the one that plays best with the media and focus groups.