Tiger happy to be back after ‘scary times’

It sets up a vastly different ball game with the new breed not scared of Tiger Woods any more.

Woods, who has dropped to number 898th in the world rankings in his prolonged absence from the game he once dominated, closed Sunday with a four-over par 76 in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

“I need to play more tournaments”.

Coming off seven-shot victories in the HSBC Champions and the Taiheiyo Masters, he had a seven-shot lead over Henrik Stenson going into the final round at Albany Golf Club.

That’s the kind of golf Woods used to play and he described what Matsuyama is doing as “daunting” and “he’s one of the players that we’re going to have to beat for a long time”.

Woods said getting back to where he is “has tested me beyond anything I have experienced in my life”. But he also had six double bogeys (three of which came on No. 18) and eight bogeys.

Woods, who hosts the event each year, started his final round with four pars before bogeying the fifth hole and double-bogeying the sixth.

“I made the most birdies this week, which is nice, but also I made some bad mistakes”, Woods said.

Woods found sand off the tee at the par-5 third and left a 30-foot birdie putt just short, then missed left from 15 feet for birdie at the fourth.

For Woods, who endured a mixed opening day and later fired an impressive second round seven-under 65 before fading on Sunday with three bogeys and three double bogeys, his appearance at the luxury resort community of Albany in The Bahamas was his first since the Wyndham Championship in August 2015.

Harold Varner III, a 26-year-old American, won a title for the first time outside the USA mini tours when he fired nine birdies in a closing 65 to finish at 19 under, two clear of Australian journeyman Andrew Dodt and four ahead of 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott for the Australian PGA Championship at Gold Coast. I would run five, six miles nearly every day, at least four. The five-time champion capped off his first full competitive tournament in almost 16 months with a 284 that was good enough only for a 15th spot. Then again, that stat is a little misleading.

When asked about Matsuyama, Woods was all praise.

“Today, I had two sevens and you can’t do that – it adds up to a pretty high number”. Still, most players said his score was above their expectations given the injuries he had and the rust he accumulated. “I really want to play”.

“The pain, the issues I had, it was just rough”, he said.

Tiger Has To Be Encouraged By His Play, But The Greatest Challenge Of His Career Is Just Beginning (read here): Michael Bamberger looks at how numerous big question now surrounding Tiger center on whether he can prove himself as the greatest of all-time, or just one of the greatest.

The comeback showed flashes of brilliance, but Woods still has a long way to go.

“Probably couldn’t get off to a better start than I did”, Woods said.