FARMINGDALE, N.Y. _ It's not so much that Tiger Woods began his second act when he won his first major golf title in 11 years at the Masters last month. Woods' public image encompasses the totality of a complicated career that reached historic levels with 14 majors in an 11-year span and collapsed in epic fashion under the weight of personal problems that broke up his marriage and physical problems that nearly ended his career.
That's what makes his comeback win at Augusta so special. Woods arrived this week for the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black with the chance for what amounts to an encore in the final phase of an all-time great career.
He is grouped in the first two rounds with reigning PGA and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka and current British Open champion Francesco Molinari. Woods and Koepka finished 1-2 in the PGA last August and in the Masters; Woods briefly led the British Open in the final round last July while paired with Molinari, and he was paired with third-round leader Molinari in the final group of the Masters in April.
