Seven endless months of inactivity, the feeling that the rounds are still a bit long and a swing much less fluid and natural, with an ankle that does not flex as before, have not prevented Tiger Woods (+1) from showing, once again, that he still has a lot of golf in his hands. The Californian has regained his smile and with more successes than mistakes, he has signed his first card under par in an official tournament since February.
Just as happened to him yesterday, when he needed 75 strokes to complete the 18 holes of Albany, in the Bahamas, the Tiger has suffered a small jam in the final stretch of his round, with three bogeys between 13 and 16. But by then, and despite not shining especially in his game around the green, he already had in his bag four fantastic birdies, two in his first two holes of the day and two more on 6 and 7, with a first half of the round impeccable, which changed his perspective a lot.
Around and down.@TigerWoods gets the roll on the long birdie putt. pic.twitter.com/q2jPsExwSg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 1, 2023
Good feelings that multiplied even more with a great last birdie, sinking a 10-meter putt on the attractive par three of 17 where shortly after Lucas Glover left the shot of the day with a sensational hole in one. In total, a card of 70 strokes, two below the par of the field, to regain confidence and start to prove to himself that, despite everything that has happened, he is not so far from many of the best players on the circuit (he has Hovland, Burns or Zalatoris behind and is one stroke from Fowler and two from Rose).
“The round was better than yesterday, no doubt. I made some mistakes, but overall it was all better. The start was better, the middle part too… I missed a couple of putts at the end that made the round stagnate a bit, but in short, it was better than yesterday”, said Tiger just after completing his second day of competition in this traditional Hero World Challenge in which he acts as host. And although he was seen walking without problems, the Californian explained that there is still room for improvement.
Dialed in early 🎯@TigerWoods starts his second round with a nice approach on No. 1. pic.twitter.com/VdxDQl7L2W
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 1, 2023
“Playing at home I can walk and walk, I can do it on the beach, but it’s different when you have to do it at the speed of the game. The speed of the game is different from home. One can try to simulate it all he wants, we play many matches with ‘bets’ doing it, but it’s different. The mind speeds up more. anxiety and emotions are different than training at home”, he confessed. Today he improved three places to be 15th and tomorrow he will try to continue with his climb of results and, above all, sensations.
In another ‘battle’ different from that of Woods appear the four or five players who have presented their candidacy to win the tournament. Among them, the Americans Scottie Scheffler (-9) and Jordan Spieth (-9), who share the lead. The World Number One, determined to win this tournament after two consecutive second places, arrived at the 18th tee in double digits, but missed the fairway on the right and closed his round of 66 strokes with bogey. The Texan, for his part, signed a 67 and missed the opportunity to go solo leader missing a putt for birdie on the last flag.
Deft touch around the greens. @JordanSpieth tapped in the birdie putt to take the solo lead. pic.twitter.com/aa4yB3Xzm3
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 1, 2023
Jordan, in any case, showed a very good version of his game, surprising by becoming the best from the tee, without missing a single fairway. Brian Harman (-8), with a final comeback after a tough start to the round, Justin Thomas (-7), Matt Fitzpatrick (-6), Collin Morikawa (-6) and Tony Finau (-6) have also not lost face to the tournament and will seek tomorrow to get fully into the fight for the last big victory of the season on the circuit.
