Monday’s question: When will Tiger Woods return to the PGA Tour?

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Reporters from around the Tribune family tackle the question of the day, then you get a chance to chime in and tell them why they are wrong.

Barry Stavro, Los Angeles Times

When will Tiger Woods return to the PGA tour? Probably at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando on March 25-28. Why? It’s just down the street from Woods’ home. The tournament host, Palmer, has been an avuncular figure for Woods since he was a student at Stanford. Woods has won Palmer’s tournament at Bay Hill six times, the most recent time was last spring. And that win in 2009 was a comeback, too, because it was Woods’ first tour win since returning to the circuit after having major knee surgery in 2008. Bay Hill also provides a birdie-fest for the field and that can help boost any player’s confidence, including Woods’. Finally, the Palmer tourney also serves as a convenient tune-up for the Masters, which begins two weeks later. Even a great player like Woods will need a tournament or two before he tees it up in a major. So, all signs point to the media attention coming full circle in Orlando, about four months after Woods’ strange early morning car accident.

George Diaz, Orlando Sentinel

At first blush, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill would be an excellent choice for Woods to emerge from hibernation. It’s a home date for him on a course he has simply destroyed. How do six victories here sound? It’s also good because it would give Woods a chance to re-establish himself before playing in the Masters on April 8-11. But all of this is wishful thinking. There isn’t a good time for Woods to make a return to the golf course. Its going to be a Zoo -- emphasis on capital Z -- wherever he goes. Woods, the very private guy, won’t have any control over the media horde wanting a piece of him. He can’t hide forever. And that’s how long it will take before he may get any privacy.

Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant

If Tiger Woods and his family board their yacht “Privacy” or reside in that Swedish island home, just bought by Elin, to get away from it all, Woods won’t be thinking about the FBR Open.
Despite all the unflattering reports about his personal life that have reduced the world’s No. 1 athlete to a level once thought impossible, he remains a determined person. So he’ll try his best to mend the wounds and to save his marriage.
He won’t sit out the year from golf, though, just as he won’t return for the San Diego Open next month, either.
Familiar surroundings of success will ease his return. He’ll play in The Masters, which will limit tabloid and paparazzi intrusions to a certain level. He’ll like that.
But the Masters won’t be his first event of 2010. To prepare for Augusta, he’ll play March 25 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Remember, he has won there six times, including this year.