Tiger Woods Finishes 18th at Hero World Challenge, But the Week Was a Win

In his first tournament since the Masters, Woods appeared healthy through four rounds and his swing showed plenty of power.

NASSAU, Bahamas — The pertinent number Sunday for Tiger Woods was 72. Not the score he shot at Albany during the final round of the Hero World Challenge. No, it was the number of holes he walked during the tournament without apparent distress.

Woods beat just two players in the 20-man Hero field that supports his foundation. His total score of 288 was 20 shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler.

None of that really mattered.

The fact that Woods got through four rounds and looked pretty good doing so is of far greater importance as he played his first tournament since April ankle surgery. The other things will take some time to sort out.

Tiger Woods finished 18th out of 20 in the Bahamas but showed plenty of game with 19 birdies :: Fernando Llano/AP

“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," he said. “I haven't done this in a long time so 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 that's eventually, when I play on a regular basis, that's normally how it is. It takes me usually during warmup before I get a feel for the round. To be honest, that first day took me a while."

There was plenty to be optimistic about. Although Woods was probably not as smooth on Sunday with his walking, there was no obvious signs of wincing throughout the tournament. And it seems reasonable that on the fourth day of a tournament there is going to be some discomfort.

Woods had played just five worldwide events over the past two years prior to the Hero following his 2021 car crash that caused significant injuries to his lower right leg, ankle and foot. The surgery he had in April is called a subtalar fusion and basically gives him more stability if not as much flexibility.

All of it means working out some issues in his swing, which hardly looked as if it suffered. Woods was rusty, and it showed more in his short game than it did in his full swings.

His ball speed was more than 170 mph all week and he made 19 birdies over the four rounds—although the 15 bogeys and two double bogeys kept his score from being better.

And Woods showed power, plenty of it.

"I think the best part of the week is the way I drove it," Woods said. "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 tighten up a little bit."

Jim "Bones" Mackay, the longtime caddie for Phil Mickelson, has seen plenty of Woods over the years. He now caddies for Justin Thomas and was with Woods in the first round. Mackay noted just how good the swing looked considering all he’s been through over the past several months.

"He hit a 4-iron on the 8th hole ... and just the sound of it was unlike any other iron shot you hear," Mackay said.

Brandel Chamblee, the Golf Channel analyst, was also impressed.

"He’s creating more speed than I thought he would be capable of, so a wonderful and important surprise there,' Chamblee said. "Overall I love the lines and look of his swing, but it is a bit short and subsequently not quite as quiet in transition to get the right sequence in the downswing.

"Which I think explains the rust or him not being as sharp with his irons."

Chamblee noted the length of Woods's swing improved as the tournament progressed. And clearly, there is room for improvement in all aspects of the game.

"I didn't play the par-5s well at all," said Woods, who was 3 under across the tournament’s 20 par-5 holes. “Whether it was from the fairway or from the sand or from the bushes, wherever it may be, I didn't take care of the par-5s at all. When you have par-5s that are reachable, you have to play them better than I did."

Woods didn’t shy away from his early-week assertion that he’d like to play a tournament a month.

Where he starts would seemingly be the Genesis Invitational in February, another tournament run by his foundation. If he wanted to play an event where he’s had considerable success, the Farmers Insurance Open is three weeks prior in late January. Whether that is enough time in between seems doubtful.

"Yeah. I think that I can get into the rhythm of it," he said. "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."

Woods will next play at the PNC Championship in two weeks with his son, Charlie. That will be an easier experience, as the event is just 36 holes and he’s allowed to use a golf cart.

But this was something to build upon—72 holes walking and now the quest to improve upon that number as a score.