Most athletes with an damage record as long and detailed as Tiger Woods could be retired from professional sport. Woods, nonetheless, is totally different to most athletes.
The 15-time major champion’s much-anticipated return to professional golf on the Hero World Challenge within the Bahamas wasn’t perfect, nor was it ever prone to be.
But in his first match in nearly eight months, Woods demonstrated that he can still be aggressive at a excessive standard and that his desire to keep playing stays undiminished.
He finished on even par at Albany Golf Club on Sunday, putting 18th out of 20 on the general leaderboard. His ultimate round featured five birdies – including a superb lengthy putt on the fifth – as nicely as some wayward moments: a double bogey on the second hole and three further bogeys on the eighth, eleventh and sixteenth.
All in all, there have been some promising indicators for the 47-year-old. Woods averaged 305 yards off the tee, proving that his long game is in good health, and he also showed that his crushed and ageing physique can nonetheless face up to the rigors of four rounds of competitive golf.
“The physicality of actually playing and competing again – I haven’t carried out this shortly. It was good to get on the market with the fellows and have some enjoyable and compete. I simply want I may have performed somewhat bit cleaner however there’s always next time.”
For Woods, subsequent time will be the copyright Championship, a father-son match which tees off in Orlando, Florida on December 14.
This would be the fourth time in a row that Woods has entered the occasion alongside his son Charlie and his second match since present process ankle surgical procedure in April.
In 2024, Woods hopes to play on the PGA Tour once a month. While competing within the Bahamas, he stated that the Genesis Invitational in February and the Players Championship in March could be choices as he steps up his aggressive return.
From there, he could appear at the Masters in April and even at the Olympics in Paris later in the year.
“Once a month appears cheap, and it offers me a few weeks to get well, every more info week to tune up,” Woods stated on Sunday. “Maybe I can get into the rhythm of something like that. That’s what the plan was going into next 12 months. I don’t see why that may change.”
During the Hero World Challenge, which Woods hosts, he said that he had been “pleasantly surprised” with his physical recovery between rounds..