Would Tiger launch his comeback in LA?

Los Angeles Daily News golf writer Jill Painter suggests that now that Elin Woods has given birth, Tiger should launch his comeback at the Northern Trust Open next week in Los Angeles.

Your first thought is that that would never happen because he's never played well at Riviera Country Club. It's a faulty premise. He has played well there. It's just that he's never won there. Tossing aside 2006, when he withdrew with an illness, Woods in his professional career has never finished out of the top 20 in Los Angeles. He's finished second twice (once when the tournament was moved to Valencia Country Club) and has finished in the top 10 four of his last seven starts in los Angeles.

Still, it seems unlikely that he'd play the Northern Trust. There's the weather, for instance; it's frequently miserable during the playing of the Northern Trust Open. Indeed, rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday next week (subject to change, of course).

There's the stage, too. He doesn't like to share it, and with Japanese prodigy Ryo Ishikawa, 17, making his PGA Tour debut there it will already be a circus, as Painter notes. Don't look for him to turn it into a two-ring circus.

-- John Strege