Tiger roars back with bogey-free 65 in the Bahamas

On a sunny and humid afternoon at the Ernie Els-designed Albany course here on Thursday, there were huge expectations from the iconic Woods as he teed off in the Hero World Challenge – a PGA meet he hosts annually.

“If the wind was blowing more, I was going to have (Albany head pro Damian Michelmore) play (as a marker)”, Woods said.

Returning after two back operations to play competitive golf for the first time since August 2015, the 14-time Major victor had a mixed first day, making a superb start before some slip-ups forced him to settle for a one-over-par 73.

“It felt good”, Woods insisted. “That’s how you win golf tournaments”.

He had started so well. He finally got the major monkey off his back by winning the U.S. Open, while also posting top-10 finishes in the Masters and British Open. It’s great to have him back.

And his body will go through plenty more challenges if he is to play a full schedule in 2017.

An eight-shot improvement from his opening 73 lifted Woods into a tie for ninth at six under, six shots back of co-leaders American Dustin Johnson (66) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (67). During one stretch it was vintage Woods, who for a brief instant held a share of the lead during the first eight holes.

Only Briton Justin Rose (72), finished below Woods.

Sadly for a sport craving a rebirth, he wilted and messed it all up. “The one on 16. this was big, to not drop a shot there”. Think about it, I looked like the size of a 1-iron and I could hit it and I could really move the ball.

“I wanted to keep that card clean”, Woods said. When he hit it well, it was really, really good, and when you mis-hit it, it was kind of, you know, they weren’t very good misses. “I got off to a nice solid start and made a few mistakes”. I let a good round slip away at the end.

“I had some awkward shots out there. Somehow, I don’t know what it is about playing and competing, but keeping cards clean, there’s something really special and it feels pretty good about doing that”. Of course with things like this we have to remember this is the PGA Tour, and even though it is 2016 we still don’t get to see every single minute of the Masters.

That was shown yet again as he gently faded a sumptuous seven iron in to kick-in distance at the par three 12th to move to five under for his round. The Olympic gold medalist was considered to be pairing with Tiger Woods, but the injury has stopped that. His next shot advanced the ball in that same terrain, then he hit a wedge to 35 feet and made the putt to keep his round blemish-free. He duly rolled it in before pumping the air – such moments were once standard for Woods.

No surprise, then, that the ratings for the first round of the Hero World Challenge were the highest in the 18-year history of the event.