Accenture Match Play Ready for Tiger - Just In Case

Is Tiger Woods returning to golf at the Accenture Match Play Championship in two weeks? That's what an Australian newspaper said recently, not bothering to cite any sources at all - merely referencing "strengthening whispers." A Tiger return at the Match Play doesn't seem too likely to me, but more surprising things have happened.

The folks who run the Accenture Match Play won't be taken by surprise, however, if this particular Tiger rumor turns out to be true. Not because they know anything - they stress that they don't - but because they're prepared for anything.

"This is exactly what happened last year," Judy McDermott, one of the tournament managers, told the Arizona Daily Star newspaper. "Last year" refers to Woods' return from knee surgery, which was preceeded by weeks of speculation about where that return might happen. It wound up happening at the Accenture Match Play, leading to a surge in interest, media credentials and fans.

The Daily Star reports:

Wade Dunagan, executive director of the WGC event, recently awoke in the middle of a restless night. He worried that an unexpected Woods comeback might overwhelm spectator and media amenities at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

When he relayed those anxieties to McDermott, she told him to relax. "This is exactly what happened last year," she said. In 2009, Woods ended an eight-month injury layoff with a six-word statement: "I'm now ready to play again." He was at the Ritz five days later.

"This event has a lot of moving pieces," Dunagan told the Daily Star. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could add Tiger to the list?"

But don't get the idea from quotes like that one that the tournament officials know anything. They stress they do not. Dunagan told the Arizona Republic newspaper:

"The main question is, 'Do I know anything you don't?' The answer is no. We're still a little bit in the dark. I can't confirm or deny anything, because I don't know."