It was almost 15 years ago today, on March 18, 1995, that Michael Jordan announced that he was returning to the NBA with a two-word statement that simply read: "I'm back." Jordan, who had been retired since the end of the 1993 season, suited up for the Bulls that Sunday in a nationally-televised contest against the Indiana Pacers on NBC's Game of the Week. That game remains the most watched regular season game in the history of the NBA.

How fitting is it then that Tiger Woods announced his return to his sport on almost the same day Jordan did? Is it a coincidence? Maybe (probably). But Woods is the only athlete in the last twenty or so years who you can even compare to Michael Jordan. Who else but Woods and Jordan have single-handedly carried their respected sports to the degree that they have? When LeBron James took his Cavaliers to the finals against the Spurs, the ratings for the games were three times lower than the ratings Jordan's Bulls got in the '98 championship. Similarly, the total purse money given out at PGA tour events is more than three times higher than it was before Tiger joined up in 1996. Without Jordan and without Woods, the NBA and PGA just haven't been the same, and no matter what you think of Woods, the game of golf is better with him on the tee range than it is with him in a sex clinic.

When Woods arrives at Augusta National on the first week of April, the atmosphere and coverage there will be something out of this world. And if you don't think that that played into Woods' decision-making, then you must not know Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan. After retiring from minor league baseball, Jordan could've picked any time to come back to the Chicago Bulls. It wasn't a coincidence that he came back on a game airing on NBC, back when NBC was the most-watched network in the country. It isn't a coincidence that Woods is coming back at the Masters, the biggest and most highly-covered golf tournament in the country, which also happens to draw the highest ratings. It certainly wasn't a coincidence that his first press conference since the car crash happened during the Accenture golf tournament, a decision everyone saw as a jab to the company that had dropped him as a sponsor that December.

Of course, there are other reasons why Woods would pick Augusta of all places to come back to. It gives him the opportunity to win a major -- his primary objective in golf -- and it allows him to play in a place where the media will be screened, which will be very important for the remainder of Woods' career. But he could have just as easily come back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a tournament that also enforces the media people it lets in. Had he done that, he could have lessened the impact of his later events, including his appearance at the Masters.

Instead he's playing at an event where all the pressure in the world will be on him. Not only will Woods inevitably be favored, he'll be competing on the toughest golf course in the country, on the biggest stage, on his first try since the car crash, in front of one of the largest audiences in PGA history, in front of a hostile crowd that may boo or jeer him whenever they see him. And lost within all the hubbub over the scandal is that Woods hasn't won it there in five years, and that in his last PGA tour event, he came up short in a one-on-one duel with Y.E. Yang -- the first time he had ever relented a lead in the final round of a major. With all that in the backdrop, with his conception of invincibility potentially shattered, it'd be hard to imagine anyone having any success in a tournament of that magnitude.

But not Tiger. For him, this is the greatest challenge he could possibly set forth for himself. When he competes on April 8, he'll not only be putting his golf game on the line, he'll be showcasing his professionalism, his public persona, his relationship status and what's left of his positive image. He can take a stab at all his issues in one fell swoop. If he wins, the surrealism of the whole ordeal will be trumped by one unmistakable fact: that Woods is not just the greatest golfer of all time, but one of the greatest athletes of all time as well. It's that sort of potential glory that continues to draw the likes of Brett Favre and Junior Seau back to their respect sports; it's what drew Michael Jordan out of retirement twice.

Woods may never admit it, and in fact he may explicitly deny it. But somewhere in his subconscious, there has to be a part of him that's excited for the Masters. It may be hard to deal with the paparazzi and the hecklers and the media members, all of whom will hound him whenever they'll get the chance. But that'll just make it so much sweeter when and if he actually wins. And while the last few months may not have been worth it, it's given him something that all great athletes ostensibly pine for from the moment their young: the greatest challenge of his athletic life.