Curiosity, hope and so many fans surround Tiger Woods in 2018

Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf Thursday morning at 10:20 a.m. PST, but the actual moment he returned as a competitor came a bit later. On the par-3 16th hole of the Torrey Pines South Course, Woods came within a few inches of a hole-in-one. The roar was emphatic and prolonged, and when it died down just enough an undeniably local voice shouted, "Dude, that's what Tiger brings!" as if he'd been saying it all day long and couldn't, until now, find anyone to believe him. Golf fans root for everyone, but they root for Patrick Reed and Charley Hoffman, Woods' playing partners for the first two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open, out of obligation; they root for Tiger out of some deep-seated hope that he — and by extension, everyone watching — can recapture a bit of what they used to be.