Tiger Woods 'excited' to get through latest comeback in Hero World Challenge

Though admitting he needs to get in “better shape physically”, Tiger Woods reckons his plan to play once per month in 2024 is definitely achievable after feeling satisfied overall with his comeback in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Playing for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery following his withdrawal during The Masters in April, the 15-time major winner signed off with a 72 at Albany for a level-par total, finishing 18th behind world No 1 Scottie Scheffler in the 20-man field. Over the course of the four days, Woods made 18 birdies and only eight of those came at par 5s on an Ernie Els-designed course in the Caribbean that has five par 5s on it.

“Yeah,” he replied to being asked if he felt the week’s work had left him feeling a bit more optimistic about being able to plan a schedule for next year. “I mean, just like I said to you guys on Tuesday, I'm curious just like you guys what this is going to look like. I haven't done it with my ankle the way it is now and I was excited each and every day to kind of get through it and kind of start piecing rounds together again.

“It was fun to feel that again. Every day I got faster into the round. The first day took me a while to get a handle on it, second day was faster, today was right away. And, when I play on a regular basis, that's normally how it is.”

Tiger Woods pictured during the final round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, Bahamas. Picture: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

Does a tournament a month still seem a little more realistic than it did before embarking on his third comeback in this particular event? “Yeah,” he declared. “I think that I can get into the rhythm of it. I think that having a couple of weeks off to recover, a week to build up, there's no reason why I can't get into that rhythm. It's just a matter of getting in better shape basically. I feel like my game's not that far off, but I need to get in better shape.

“I think the best part of the week is the way I drove it. I drove it on pretty much a string all week. Granted, these fairways are big. I felt like I had my ball speed up, which was nice, and I was hitting the middle of the face the entire week, which is nice. So it's not like I have to go and try and find something the next few weeks or something going into next year; what I've been working on is right there and maybe just needs tightened up a little bit.”

Though admitting he was feeling “sore” at the end of 72 holes but already looking forward to teaming up with son Charlie in the upcoming PNC Championship in Florida, Woods was delighted that his ankle had stood up to the test, walking more freely than he did before the surgery in April.

“It's about the same,” he said of needing four to five hours to recover in between rounds, “just I don't have the bone pain that I did. But I still have to go through the same protocols. It takes a long time.

"That's the unfortunate thing about aging and trying to do something that either I've worn out my body or trying to keep up with the younger people, it takes a long time pre and post. You spend more time in the treatment room and weight room than you do on a golf course. That's just part of wanting to hang around as an athlete.”

Scheffler, who had finished second to Viktor Hovland in both 2021 and 2022, went one better on this occasion, winning by three shots as he closed with 68 for a 20-under-par. Austrian Sepp Straka signed off with a best-of-the-day 64 to secure second spot.