Hello Again, World!

Why Tiger’s return can be called a success – and what he needs to do to reignite his Major chase with Jack. 

- Jaime Diaz

After 466 days, Tiger Woods returned to competition at the Hero World Challenge. What did we learn? Well, it’s hard to say definitively. On one hand, Woods was under as much scrutiny as he has ever been in his over-scrutinised life. With a game recently described as “vulnerable,” he handled the challenge without melting down.

On the other, the Hero was the very recipe of home cooking. Unofficial event, 18-man field, no cut, cake golf course, sparse galleries in a languid tropical setting, Woods as the tournament host surrounded by supplicants and staff. Albany Golf Club is far from the cold demands of a 72-hole US PGA Tour event at let’s say, Torrey Pines or Riviera, the former where Woods will open 2017 at the Farmers’ Insurance Open as he embarks on what he hopes will be a full playing schedule. And much farther still from a merciless Major.

Bottom line, Woods finished 15th. His scores of 73-65-70-76 represented a decidedly mixed bag. The good news was that he led the field in birdies with 24 (through 43 holes he had 17), looking good after reuniting with the Scotty Cameron putter with which he won 13 Majors. The bad news: Woods had eight bogeys and six doubles. Many of them were mostly due to a short game that, though not the horror show of early 2015, is still iffy.

The unevenness could have been expected. His good was surprisingly good. But as Woods himself would say, what matters most is “how bad is your bad.” If it stays that bad, it’s improbable that Woods will be able to add to his career totals of 79 official US PGA Tour victories let alone his 14 Majors.