After an opening-round one-under 70 that featured some electrifying, vintage Tiger Woods moments at the Valspar Championship, it was still difficult to claim Woods was “back”, like “back-back”. Yes, we beat that phrase into the ground, but with the flashes of brilliance he’s shown during the early stages of this comeback, it’s hard not to.
On Friday, the “Is he back?” game officially reached its peak, as Woods mounted a second-round charge that launched him into the solo lead on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook.
Naturally, this sent Golf Twitter into DEFCON 1 mode, effectively burning itself to the ground before Woods reached the clubhouse. Things were getting interesting when he made the turn in two-under 33, but things got REALLY interesting when he added birdies at the par-4 second and par-5 fourth, putting him alone atop the board. It got so out of control that in addition to Twitter breaking, PGA Tour Live damn near exploded:
We are experiencing technical difficulties for users in some locations. We are working with our tech partners to fix the issue right away.
— PGA TOUR LIVE (@PGATOURLIVE) March 9, 2018
The Tiger effect is real.
Hopefully, all of your respective US PGA Tour Live streams began working again. If so, you likely heard one of the commentators redeem the technical difficulty problem by dropping the phrase of the year, referring to Woods’ driver as the “smoke wagon”:
https://twitter.com/MrTempletonPeck/status/972147859066933248
Someone on PGA Tour live just referred to Tiger's driver as the "smoke wagon" and now that's my favorite phrase in the world. #SMOKEWAGON
— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) March 9, 2018
PGA Tour Live just said Tiger has "the smoke wagon in hand." That's some 2005 slang that will live on for years to come.
— D.J. Piehowski (@DJPie) March 9, 2018
Tiger Woods just absolutely smoked The Smoke Wagon on his final tee shot of the day. #SMOKEWAGON
— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) March 9, 2018
Smoke Wagon T-Shirts being printed as we speak. Even Dan Patrick is on board:
@dpshow showing some love to @AlexMyers3 #SMOKEWAGON pic.twitter.com/TdeB5Su4Ev
— doyouknowmyboy (@doyouknowmyboy) March 9, 2018
But the birth of #SMOKEWAGON was just the beginning of an epic day for golf fans who frequent social media. Here’s a sampling of some of the best Tiger-related tweets from fans, media and even fellow players:
It's 2018 and Tiger Woods is the outright leader of a PGA tour event.
— bet365 (@bet365) March 9, 2018
I’ve just found myself punching the air in my hotel room in India when @TigerWoods makes a par putt… 😂 #comeon #comeback #GOAT @PGATOUR
— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) March 9, 2018
It’s tough to fully explain the @TigerWoods effect … but just look at these crowds out early on a FRIDAY morning!!! Looks like a final group at a major … TW is the man 🐐 pic.twitter.com/QuA5Fb1shi
— Zac Blair (@z_blair) March 9, 2018
Tiger Woods.
Solo leader. pic.twitter.com/mUmjzXJsPP
— Skratch (@Skratch) March 9, 2018
Tiger Woods is leading a PGA Tour golf event in 2018. pic.twitter.com/U1McduiXHo
— Scott Bell (@ScottBellDMN) March 9, 2018
Tiger Woods’ finishes with a 36-hole lead/co-lead in Florida since 2000: pic.twitter.com/8IiLtMgdH4
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) March 9, 2018