Tiger return: Comeback or cameo?

SAN MARTIN, California (AP) ― This might be more of a cameo than a comeback for Tiger Woods.

Or maybe a little of both.

When he tees off in the Frys.com Open, Woods will have gone 54 days without having hit a meaningful golf shot. That’s the longest stretch of his career without competition when he wasn’t dealing with some form of rehab.

The buzz for his return is predictable. The tournament is close to a sellout, with ticket sales already five times higher than a year ago. There remains no greater draw in golf.

Less predictable is what Woods will do on the course. He is capable of winning at CordeValle, because no matter what he has or hasn’t done in the last two years, he is capable of anything.

“I think this is a fresh start,” swing coach Sean Foley said Tuesday.

And then, Woods will stop again.

What makes this feel like a cameo appearance is Woods has been gone for seven weeks, and after the Frys.com Open, he won’t compete again for a full month when he plays in the Australian Open. He has the inaugural Tiger Woods Invitational next week at Pebble Beach ― essentially a fundraiser for his foundation ― and most likely has his two children the following week. His schedule was set long before Woods knew how this season would pan out.

After the Australian Open is the Presidents Cup, and then a week off before Woods ends his season at the Chevron World Challenge.

That’s four tournaments over the final three months of the year, hardly the kind of schedule for a player to build any momentum, even a guy who rarely plays more than about 20 times a year even in the best of times.

The best measure of any comeback won’t start until 2012.

One television promotion trumpeted coverage of all four rounds of Woods’ return, forgetting perhaps that unlike his last return at Firestone, the Frys.com Open has a 36-hole cut. Does anyone expect to Woods to be gone by the weekend? He was the last time he played, at the PGA Championship.