Tiger Woods ‘feeling good’ after up and down comeback from injury

And that started with the sight of that red shirt on Sunday.

For the sake of professional golf, having Woods back for the entirety of the 2017 season would be pleasing. Typically after a long layoff, Woods said he struggles to get going. Woods did far more than that.

Matusyama held off British Open champion Henrik Stenson over the final few holes of an event in which Woods dominated the headlines.

Matsuyama hasn’t finished out of the top five since the Tour Championship, and while he can’t explain why he keeps winning, this recent run likely dates to the Deutsche Bank Championship.

6, with an enviable record of three wins and a second place finish in his last four stroke-play starts, played with Zen-like concentration and remarkable consistency to match the score set by Bubba Watson at this stage a year ago. The club twirls were back.

Matsuyama, now with 13 professional wins, also said that there are a lot of great players worldwide, including at least one from Japan – Hall of Famer Jumbo Ozaki, who won 113 titles worldwide. His haunting chipping woes are gone. “The pain and issues I’ve had – it was just rough”.

“So big picture? It feels good”. To battle back, to battle through it, to have the friends I’ve had who have supported me, helped me through it.

“For him to come back and play really well, it just means more for us”, Reed said. “And these are all things that I have missed for about a year and a half”.

“It probably takes me close to two or three hours to do everything with my physio”, Woods said. “I made a lot of birdies, but I made a lot of mistakes”.

Caddie Joey LaCava was excited to see his player get through the week.

“He’s upright No. 1. I missed it. I love it”. “I thought I made some good, positive things happen this week”.

“It tested me beyond the anything I had experienced in my life”, he said after completing his final round in Albany.

“You never forget how to win and that never goes away”.

When asked about Matsuyama, Woods was all praise.

“I think he’ll be a major champion within the next couple of years, personally”, Jordan Spieth said.

Woods, well known for his soldier-like work ethic, continues to work with swing coach Chris Como. “If I was off that amount of time, I would be very tentative into the ball”.

“A year”, he said.

Encouraging that the 898th-ranked golfer in the world returned after 466 days of not competing following three back surgeries and the necessary rehab that he finished the mid-week pro-am, and the 72 holes, in one piece. Many people were anxious to see what he could do with so much time off and how old he is. Give him that much time on. “But he’s been very patient with himself in his comeback”. He won the Taiheiyo Masters in Japan two weeks later, again by seven shots.

Stone closed with a 5-under 67 to finish at 22-under 266 at Leopard Creek.

Woods made 24 birdies, the most of anyone this week. Richard Sterne was second.

Woods hit three consecutive birdies starting on the seventh hole in the final round, but followed up with two bogeys and a double bogey. Just like that, the lead was up to four.