Tiger Woods (+3) has closed his return to competition with a scorecard of 75 strokes on the first day of the Hero World Challenge, which is held at the Albany course, in the Bahamas, a score that already places him far from the lead, held by Brian Harman (-5) and Tony Finau (-5). Nothing too surprising after more than seven months of absence, since he withdrew from the last The Masters after playing the third round.
Actually, all things considered, the Cypress native had more or less steered the round with four holes to go, with a partial of one less in those first fourteen holes. From there, however, he was going to chain a double bogey and two definitive bogeys. The ‘double’ fell on him, moreover, on the 15th, a par 5 which is the easiest hole on the course, after missing the start to a tricky place and trying to play a ball that perhaps should have been dropped with the corresponding penalty stroke. Up to that point, Tiger had interspersed some occasional mistakes with other very well played holes on a day that, on the other hand, has not been easy due to the wind.
Can conclusions be drawn? The first and perhaps most important is that the Cypress native was not taken by surprise by this result. It’s not that he was celebrating the mistakes on the course, but he was not seen worried or suffering too much. Moreover, he was seen smiling and even in a festive mood as he left the 18th green, before signing the scorecard. Woods is clearly aware that now it’s about getting the hang of things and it’s not a matter of losing patience at the first hurdle. Besides, the simple fact of competing without pain in his right foot is in itself good news.
By the standards he is used to handling, he may have been seen a little more rusty in his short game. And he has not been particularly sharp from the tee. On the greens, however, he sank up to two long-distance birdie putts on holes 5 and 14, although not even in this area was the best Woods seen.
But since we are talking about the performance with the putter in hand, we must highlight the one shown by Brian Harman, one of the two leaders, infallible at times. One stroke behind the British winner and Finau is currently Jordan Spieth (-4), with one of those rounds that only a guy like him can sign… He signed a 68 with four bogeys and a double bogey on the card, thanks among other things to the two eagles he scored on holes 3 and 15.
For the rest, the world’s Number One, Scottie Scheffler (-3), was going from less to more and, very much in his usual solid and efficient line, finished only two strokes behind the lead after recovering from a shaky start. Just as he does things, without it being too noticeable.
Will Zalatoris (+9), another one returning to competition after a prolonged absence (also more than seven months), closes the table with a record of 81 strokes after also suffering the burden of inactivity. As in Tiger’s case, it will be a matter of seeing, even this very week, how his game evolves.
