And on the 467th day, Tiger Woods played tournament golf again.
Woods made his long awaited return to golf on Dec. 1, when he teed it up in the Hero World Challenge, his foundation’s annual charity event in the Bahamas. And because the golf world revolves around Tiger, the biggest news wasn’t that Hideki Matsuyama won his third straight tournament, and fourth in five events, to pocket the $1 million first-place check.
Here are the real headlines:
Woods plays four rounds; doesn’t re-injure himself
“A lot of positives,” said Joe LaCava, Tiger’s caddie, assessing his week at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. “He’s upright, No. 1.”
Yes, it’s a good sign that you’re still standing, and not grimacing in pain, after ending the longest layoff of your career – especially after undergoing three back surgeries in an 18-month period and watching your world ranking plummet to 898th during 15-plus months of inactivity.
“It was a great week,” an upbeat Tiger said after the tournament, an unofficial but tour-sanctioned 72-hole event with world ranking points.
Yes, he used the word “great” after finishing 15th in an 18-player field.
Top 20 finish for Woods in return
Just kidding. But you can forget those 79 PGA Tour victories and 14 major titles, at least for the time being. Expectations have changed. Progress is measured differently now.
“Big picture?” Woods said. “It was good to be back out here playing again, competing against and trying to beat the best players in the world. I missed it. I love it.” He also talked about the “dire times when I couldn’t move” because of excruciating back pain.
Woods leads field with 24 birdies
No matter how you spin it, 24 birdies is impressive. Thirteen of the top 25 players in the world rankings competed, but only Matsuyama matched Tiger’s total of holes played under par, with 22 birdies and two eagles.
Woods, however, also led the field with six double bogeys. Remember when he used to dominate on the par-5s? That was the old Tiger, not the 41-year-old trying to keep up with the long-hitting youngsters on tour.
“I made a lot of birdies, but unfortunately I made a lot of mistakes,” he said. “You can’t make 7s out here (and expect to contend).”
Tiger back on leaderboard
OK, briefly, very briefly. But on a resort course with generously wide fairways, Woods showed flashes of brilliance all four days. To wit:
He was 4 under through his first eight holes in Round 1 before stumbling to a back-nine 40 and 1-over 73.
He shot a 7-under 65 in Round 2, with several fist-pump moments.
He birdied the first three holes in Round 3 and holed a long bunker shot for another birdie on No. 5.
He closed the final round’s front nine with three consecutive birdies but then staggered to another back-nine 40 and finished 15th at 4 under.
But after a 466-day layoff, it was probably gratifying to say he beat anybody in the star-studded field. (Russell Knox and Emiliano Grillo brought up the rear, and Justin Rose withdrew after the first round because of an injury). The most important thing, from Tiger’s perspective, is that he swung freely, played aggressively and had no problems with his back.
He also demonstrated he could hit all of the required shots, driving the ball better than he has in recent years, hitting plenty of quality iron shots and answering questions about his short game by getting up and down often from the sand and tight Bermuda lies around the green. (Satisfied, Brandel Chamblee?) And after putting his favorite Scott Cameron putter bag in the bag, he also rolled the rock like the Tiger of old.
Tiger’s world ranking soars
Don’t ask me how, but thanks to the world ranking points he received, Woods rocketed from No. 898 to No. 650 in the world the next week, on the strength of a 15th-place finish. See what can happen when you actually play?
We probably won’t see Tiger again until the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines (Jan. 26-29) – or perhaps Abu Dhabi the week before – but that certainly beats waiting another 466 days.
