THE big news in the golfing world this week is that Tiger Woods has taken number one spot at the top of the World Rankings again, by winning The Arnold Palmer Invitational at the famous Bay Hill course. This was his eighth title at Bay Hill and he is in red hot form having won six of his last 20 tournaments.

This is the first time that Woods has been the number one player in the world since October 2010. After all that time, after so much turmoil with his personal life and his health, Woods looked as good as ever.

"It's a by-product of hard work, patience and getting back to winning golf tournaments. If I get healthy, I know I can play this game at a high level," Woods said. "I know I can be where I'm contending in every event, contending in major championships and being consistent day in and day out - if I got healthy. That was the first step in the process. Once I got there, then my game turned."

Woods fell as low as 58th in the world as he coped with the collapse of his marriage, a loss of sponsors and injuries to his left leg. This latest victory is one week after he announced he was dating Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn.

As any professional sportsman or woman knows, there are a number of factors in your life that have to be balanced for peak performance to be reached. If your mind is allowed to wander off course, distractions can take over your thought processes and it can be a long round, whether professional or amateur.

I think it’s safe to say Tiger has had a rough time of it through the media and public scepticism of him over the last two years. Before his scandal, his professional life was perfect, an immaculate role model who has been top of his tree for ten years. It’s very easy to forget that top athletes like Tiger Woods are human and have everyday issues in their life, just like us. It’s hard for anybody to constantly smile and give 100 per cent if you’re having a bad day, but one amazing quality Woods possesses is to never give up.

With Rory McIlroy having a slow start to the season, the up and coming Masters in April should be epic. McIlroy can get back to the top of the rankings this week if he wins in the Houston Open, as Tiger is not playing.

This battle between these two Nike-endorsed ‘giants’ is fantastic for the game of golf and although people’s opinions of Tiger vary, our game is in a better place when he is performing well.

Tiger’s last Major win came back in 2008, but in his current form I’m sure he will be contending at the top of the leader board at Augusta. The 11th of April can’t come soon enough!

• Jon Stacey is on holiday this week, so Rockliffe’s assistant head golf pro, Martyn Stubbings, shared his views.