Professional golf is so entertaining at the moment, but I'd like to see the authorities experiment with different course set-ups to ensure the game doesn't become too one-dimensional
Lee Westwood Column: On Tiger, Rory, Course Set-ups And More
Professional golf is in a fascinating place at the moment.
Would I say it’s as strong as it’s ever been? Well, there’s certainly a great spread across the board.
You have lots of guys from my era playing well – the likes of Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson – Tiger is obviously back in the mix and there are lots of quality youngsters on the scene.
It’s very competitive and picking obvious winners is much harder nowadays.
Take The Masters, for example. In the past, you could probably look at the field list and select 25 players who you thought had a chance to win.
Now that number is probably more like 50.
Even though Tiger Woods winning was unlikely, he was in that group of 50.
It’s been really interesting monitoring his comeback and I think he’s been motivated to challenge himself against the young players, most of whom idolised him growing up.
Many of these guys haven’t seen him anywhere near his peak in the flesh and I think he’s keen to come out and show them just how good he is.
He loves the game so much and he’s so driven to compete.
It’s certainly been a stronger comeback than his previous attempts and he’s actually got back into it quicker than I thought he would.
People were panicking about his short game not so long ago but now it looks fantastic.
At Bay Hill, he didn’t exactly hit it straight, but he still contended – he found a way to get the ball in the hole and that’s exactly what he used to do.
He’s never been a fairway machine. If he stays fit and healthy, I see him winning tournaments again.
I don’t know if he’ll win another Major – there are just far too many variables. The key thing is that he’s fit enough to play again.
If everyone plays their best golf for a season, I think Rory McIlroy comes out on top in the rankings.
It’s certainly close, and I think there are maybe six players who are at a similar level: Rory, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, and then Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson when they are on and firing.