But, you can be sure Woods’ return to action this weekend will inspire mixed reactions on the PGA Tour.

The fourteen-time major winner and former World No 1 is to play at the Quicken Loans National tournament in Washington DC today.

It’s his first time playing in over three months after he was forced to withdraw from the Honda Classic in early March due to injury and a week later performed extremely poorly in the WGC Cadillac Championship.

Later that month he underwent back surgery for a pinched nerve that had been causing him problems for several months and has been rehabilitating ever since.

In the meantime he has missed 16 tour events, including two majors.

In his absence The Masters was won in April by his compatriot Bubba Watson and earlier this month Germany’s Martin Kaymer had a comfortable victory at the US Open.

Both are currently in the top five in the Fedex Cup rankings.

Woods will tee-off today with Jordan Spieth - who is himself number six in the rankings - after two second-place finishes this year, one of those in the Masters behind Watson.

Although the reaction from golfers on Tiger’s return has been positive, it is hard to imagine that those golfers flourishing in his absence aren’t all a little concerned at the return of the man who once dominated the sport for so long.

He may be coming back from injury but Woods has proven previously that he has the grit to force himself back into the top spot. When he returned from his self-enforced break in 2010, he suffered a serious dip in form, eventually leaving him ranked 58 in the world by November 2011.

However, he refused to give up and gradually regained his form reclaiming the top spot in golf in March 2013, holding it until May of this year.

Back to Watson’s interview with the Golf channel about Woods’ comeback:

“It’s good for the game of golf. We’ve been wanting to see it. No matter if he misses the cut, no matter if he just finishes middle of the pack, it’s a great thing for golf that he’s back.”

Watson’s last comment sums up the situation for the PGA as a whole. When Tiger is missing, the tour suffers.

The Masters in April was a case in point. Without Tiger its share of the TV audience dropped to 7.8%, the lowest since 2004. The on-course interest also dropped with prices for one-day tickets being exchanged online dropping from about $1165 to around $940 after Woods announced he would not be taking part.

Similarly the final day of the US Open also saw a huge drop in audience share. Although the World Cup and Martin Kaymer’s huge early lead also have to be included as factors - it drew in just 3% of the audience share - down 44% on the previous year.

Keegan Bradley echoed Watson’s comments, and summed up the reality that golfers accept, even if it means more competition on a personal level.

“It’s great news for golf and great news for the Tour,” said Bradley, also speaking to the Golf Channel.

“A no-Tiger Tour is not the same. … We need Tiger. The whole Tour needs Tiger and golf needs Tiger.”