Tiger Woods Takes First PGA Lead in Three Years

Tiger Woods has taken us on a real rollercoaster throughout his career. There was the ascendancy to the crown, the consistency to claim GOATness, the marital scandals, the Santa nipples, the DUI arrest, the injury—all skipping neatly along a Shakespearean tragic arc. But now, like some kind of fire bird from the soot, he's kicking ass again.

The Valspar Championship is in its second round Friday in Palm Harbor, Florida, and it marks Tiger's fourth start since returning from a spinal injury last April. And he's already run up the leaderboards to the top. OK, sure, he's tied with two other golfers—Brandt Snedeker (USA) and Paul Casey (UK)—but he nearly held a solo lead, until he bogeyed on the final hole.

But just watch a bit of his journey. On Thursday, he was swinging like crazy from a forest, and didn't let a goddamn tree get in the way of his follow-through:

And then Friday, he hit a whole flock (sorry) of birdies:

There was a great moment on NBC Golf channel where one of the commentators—a former player whose name I didn't catch—said that he wasn't too happy for Woods right now because he was getting some PTSD from the days where Tiger used to kick his ass. And he's right. Even 42-year-old Tiger is something to fear.