Martin Dempster: Tiger has just made 2012 very appetising

IT’S ENTIRELY a matter of opinion whether Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood or Tiger Woods recorded the most impressive victory on Sunday, though you would think the nod should be given to the first of those listed given that he actually triumphed in an official event, the Hong Kong Open.

McIlroy beat a full field at Fanling, whereas Westwood came out on top against 11 others in making a successful defence of the Nedbank Challenge crown in South Africa and Woods finished at the head of an 18-man line-up in winning his own event, the Chevron World Challenge in California.

In truth, all three were impressive in their own way: McIlroy overcoming an energy-sapping illness to keep alive his hopes of catching Luke Donald in the race to finish the year as European No 1; Westwood producing “one of the best rounds I’ve ever played” to set up his Sun City success and Woods finishing birdie-birdie to end his two-year title drought.

In the space of a few hours, the trio well and truly whetted our appetite for the 2012 campaign and the good news is that we only have to wait six weeks to see if Woods is, indeed, back when he lines up in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European Tour.

Both McIlroy and Westwood were in the field for that event at the start of this year and it’s to be hoped they will be again. That way, we won’t have to wait until The Masters in April to see the 14-time major winner tested to the full to see if there is, in fact, substance to his recent improved form.

By my reckoning, McIlroy and Woods haven’t come face-to-face since the young Ulsterman stirred up some controversy ahead of last year’s Ryder Cup in Wales. “I’d love to face him,” declared McIlroy. “After what’s happened in the last 18 months or so, I suppose a little bit of the aura has probably gone.”

In finishing with that brace of birdies to beat Zach Johnson in California, Woods perhaps restored a smidgen of that aura and, while it seems ridiculous that he has leapt 21 places on the back of winning an exhibition event, the former world No 1 will certainly be heading into the New Year with a spring in his step again.

Now, organisers of the Abu Dhabi event should deliver a mouth-watering start to the 2012 campaign by sending out McIlroy and Woods in the opening two rounds at the end of January and toss either Westwood or world No 1 Luke Donald, providing he’s there as well, into the mix for good measure.

Donald, McIlroy and Westwood all deserve their lofty positions in the world rankings, having performed exceptionally well this year, but, at the same time, they have benefitted from Woods suffering the worst spell of his professional career due to injury and loss of form.

On one hand, Tiger’s return to winning ways could signal a threat to the talented trio, both in terms of long-term world rankings and chances of claiming major titles, but, on the other, Donald, McIlroy and Westwood will all be relishing the opportunity of locking horns with Woods over the next 12 months.

With a US Open title under his belt since he made those aforementioned remarks, McIlroy certainly isn’t the type who’ll be intimidated by Woods and I hope it was just a coincidence that it was Johnson, a PGA Tour veteran these days, rather than the likes of Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Nick Watney who found himself fighting it out with the tournament host in the final round on Sunday.

In coming out on top, Woods certainly provided some answers. Victory No 83 was one of the most meaninful of his career and it is worth noting that a record crowd of just over 20,000 turned up at Thousand Oaks for the final round. Tiger’s fans sensed that long-awaited ‘W’ was in the offing and they were right.

How much we can actually read into the last few weeks remains to be seen in terms of his bid to catch and overtake Jack Nicklaus and his record of 18 majors, but one thing for sure is that a 2012 campaign that was already shaping up nicely has just got a lot more appetising.