Tiger Woods put together a much-improved second round at the Hero World Challenge on Sunday, shooting two-under-par to climb up the leaderboard on his return from eight months out injured.
The golf legend, 47, struggled during his first round on Thursday but lit up the course 24 hours later to allay fans’ injury concerns and climb up to 12th at the turn, before ending the day 15th.
He recorded the joint-lowest front nine of the entire field, shooting four-under-par to rise from 18th of 20 after his disappointing three-over-par 75 yesterday.
Wearing a turquoise blue shirt in the Bahamas, Woods was followed by a huge crowd and put together birdies on the first, second, sixth and seventh holes.
He hit a blip on the back nine, bogeying the 13th, 15th and 16th, before rallying to birdie the 17th and finish on +1 overall.
Tiger Woods smiles on day two of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course, Bahamas
There was a big crowd of fans following Woods around the course on his return from injury
Woods had a magnificent front nine, birdieing four holes to jump up the star-studded rankings
Woods holes a birdie on the opening hole to begin his charge up from 18th on the leaderboard
The most positive thing for Woods’ though, was that he appeared to be moving incredibly well for a man that has suffered more than his fair share of injuries in recent years.
As he walked the course with his caddie, there appeared to be little to no limp for the 15-time major champion, just days after he told reporters he is aiming to play up to 12 tournaments in 2024.
At the top of the leaderboard in the Bahamas on Friday afternoon, Scottie Scheffler led the way on -10, with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas chasing him down.
Tiger was appearing for the first time in a competitive event since The Masters earlier this year, when he battled through pain due to reaggravated plantar fasciitis from his 2021 car crash during a blustery third round at the undulated Augusta National before the elements forced him to withdraw, later having surgery on his ankle.
Woods plays his tee shot on the fourth and looked to be walking without a limp on Friday
The golf legend takes the applause of the crowd and appeared to be a man on a mission Friday
He has kept a relatively low profile since, until this week. Woods gave a pre-tournament press conference Tuesday ahead of heading out for Round One alongside longtime pal Justin Thomas at 11:52am ET Thursday.
‘I love competing. I love playing. I miss being out here with the guys. I miss the camaraderie and the fraternity like atmosphere out here, and the overall banter,’ Woods said.
‘But what drives me is I love to compete. There will come a point in time, I haven’t come around to it fully yet, that I won’t be able to win again. When that day comes and I’ll walk.’
When pressed on whether that meant he still believes he can win again, which could break his tie with Sam Snead for the PGA Tour record wins, the golf icon adamantly responded: ‘Absolutely.’
