The Easter Bunny came a couple of weeks early for the 2010 Masters. Tiger Woods announced Tuesday that he would choose the world's most famous golf tournament to make his return to the sport.
You could almost hear the ch-ching ringing in every cash register from CBS to the PGA to the gift shop at Augusta National. Happy golf days are here again.
And this is clearly great news for the grand ol' game, which may have been the least recession-proof sport out there during Tiger's self-imposed absence over the past three months for, ahem, personal reasons.
Or as Kentucky gentleman golfer Kenny Perry said upon hearing of Woods' announcement: "It's awesome to have our star back. I thank him every day because my paycheck has risen because of him, and our sport really grew because of him."
Of course, that is the one undeniable, unarguable truth concerning Woods. Everyone involved in the game has benefited from his staggering star power with the exception of those few players who would have split up the 14 majors Tiger has won.
If such a thing is possible, pro golf may need Woods more than he needs it.
But there also is at least one nagging question concerning the Striped One's decision to end his self-imposed exile over personal matters in order to play in his favorite tournament.
That question is this: If you're his wife Elin, and you've just heard your lying, cheating, philandering husband say not a month earlier, "I plan to return to golf one day ... I just don't know when that day will be ... I don't rule out that it will be this year," are you thinking that return would be in 48 days or four to eight months?
Especially when he also said, "I have a long way to go, but I've also taken the first baby steps in the right direction."
And this: "I need to regain my balance so I can save the things that are most important -- my marriage and my children."
If all those words were as heartfelt and sincere as he tried to portray them to be during his mea culpa infomercial on Feb. 19, could he really zip back to golf on the first week of April? And should he?
Everyone will have an opinion about this, and there will be as many different and opposing ones as there are azaleas at Augusta National.
Fellow Tour golfer Rocco Mediate said Tuesday that "I'm not really surprised. (Augusta) is the safest place. It's the most controlled place."
Jim Furyk sourly said, "(Tiger's return) will have an effect on everyone because we're going to have to talk about it a lot. I'm doing it right now. He's going to be difficult to interview, so that leaves the rest of us answering a lot of questions."
There was also this from Masters chairman Billy Payne: "We support Tiger's decision to return to competitive golf beginning at this year's Masters Tournament. Additionally, we support and encourage his stated commitment to continue the significant work required to rebuild his personal and professional life."
The key sentence there is not the first one. It's the second, the one referring to "stated commitment" and "significant work required to rebuild his personal and professional life."
In other words, we're happy you're back as long as the new you behaves far differently than the old you.
This is awkward for everyone -- friends, foes and so many fence-sitters in between.
But for a guy whose life appeared in "tatters" -- Ben Crenshaw's word, not mine -- 26 days ago, this all seems a bit soon.
Which brings us back to Feb. 19 and Tiger's infomercial. Attempting to look sincere before the camera that day, Tiger said, "As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words. It will come from my behavior over time."
His behavior over this limited amount of time seems to say he's still choosing golf first, last and always, another Tiger unwilling or unable to change his stripes.