Tiger Woods’ comeback is on its way.
Woods, a 15-time major winner, returned to competitive play at the 2023 Hero World Challenge this week and played 72 holes for first time since the Genesis Invitational back in February. Woods finished the tournament with a 72-hole score of even par on Sunday. Woods finished 18th out of 20 players.
Woods commented after the round, “I’m glad I played four days to knock off some rust. It was great.” “Just the physicality, of playing again, I hadn’t done it in a long time so it was great to get out with the boys and have some competition and I wish I had played a little better but there’s always the next time,” Woods said after the round.
Woods, who had a double-bogey early on on the par-3 2nd hole due to a misplaced chip, birdied three of the next four holes in order to finish the round under par and win the tournament. Bogeys at Nos. Woods’ momentum was halted by bogeys on Nos. After missing eagle shots on 14 and 15, Woods stumbled at Nos. A step forward, like on Thursday, was followed by a backwards step as another struggle around the 16th par-4 green resulted in a brutal bogey. Pars on the last two holes of his week sealed it.
Woods deliberately traversed the course during the final round, and grimaced for a first time when he hit his second shot out of the sand at No. 10. He was able finish the tournament with no noticeable problems by being slow and steady. Woods said earlier in the week that an ideal schedule would be one tournament per month. His performance in the Bahamas has given hope for more in 2024.
He said, “Once a week seems reasonable. It gives me time to recuperate and to tune up. Maybe I can get in the rhythm.” “That was the plan going into next season.”
