Tag: albany

Tiger Woods gives hope for 2024 after return to competition at Hero World Challenge

Woods shot an even-par 72 on Sunday to finish even for the tournament.

The first step of yet another Tiger Woods comeback has been made.

The 15-time major champion made his return to competitive play this week at the 2023 Hero World Challenge and completed 72 holes for the first time since the Genesis Invitational in February. Woods shot an even-par 72 on Sunday in the final round to finish even for the tournament. He walked off the course in 18th place in the 20-player field.

“I think I’ve come a long way from being a little bit rusty to play four days and knock off a lot of rust, which was great,” Woods said after the round. “Just the physicality of actually playing, competing again, I haven’t done this in a while so it was nice to get out there with the guys and have some fun and compete and I wish I would have played a little cleaner but there’s always next time.”

After an early double-bogey on the par-3 second hole following a flubbed chip, Woods made birdie on three of his next four holes to get under par on the round and for the tournament. Bogeys on Nos. 8 and 11, both courtesy of iffy efforts around the green, stalled his momentum until Woods went back-to-back with birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 after missed eagle attempts on both holes. Similar to Thursday, a step forward was immediately followed by a step backward as more struggles around the green led to a brutal bogey on the par-4 16th. Pars on his closing two holes sealed the deal for what was a solid week.

Woods was deliberately traversing the course in the final round and notably grimaced for the first time after his second shot from the sand on No. 10. That said, slow and steady and he was able to complete the tournament without any noticeable issues. Earlier in the week Woods had said an ideal schedule would mean one tournament a month, and his performance in the Bahamas gave hope for more to come in 2024.

“Once a month seems reasonable and it gives me a couple of weeks to recover and weeks to tune up, maybe I can get into the rhythm and something like that,” he said. “That’s what the plan was going into next year.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=1375]

Shot-by-shot analysis: Tiger Woods shoots even-par 72 Sunday at 2023 Hero World Challenge

Woods is making his return to competitive golf for the first time since April.

Tiger Woods closed out his most recent return to competition on Sunday in paradise.

In his first competitive appearance since the Masters earlier this spring, the 15-time major champion entered the final round of the 2023 Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event that benefits his TGR Foundation, T-16 at even par in the 20-player field.

Woods was admittedly rusty in Thursday’s opening round at Albany in the Bahamas as he signed for an up-and-down 3-over 75 but got back under par both Friday (70) and Saturday (71). He walked off the course in 18th place after an even-par 72 on Sunday.

Check out his closing round with shot-by-shot updates below.

Best shots: Check out Tiger’s Hero highlights

Scottie Scheffler’s new putter is en fuego, the putting whisperer’s busy week and Tiger’s Sunday pairing among takeaways from the Hero World Challenge

Scottie Scheffler may have found a new favorite club.

NASSAU, Bahamas — Scottie Scheffler may have found a new favorite club.

The world No. 1 inserted a putter in the bag for a tryout this week at the Hero World Challenge and ranks third in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. On Saturday, he made two eagles and four birdies and posted 7-under 65 at Albany to build a three-stroke lead over Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick.

“Nice to see some putts go in,” Scheffler said. “I’ve been rolling it pretty solid. These greens can be tough to putt at times, but like I said, I’m rolling it good.”

Indeed, he is. Scheffler is using a heel-toe weighted blade made by little-known puttermaker Olson Putter Co.

“It’s very similar to some stuff that I used in the past,” Scheffler explained. “It has a little thing on the top that helps me line the ball up more consistently in the middle of the face, and then obviously the grip is different than what I’ve used in the past, but that’s something that Phil (Kenyon) and I have worked on together.”

Scheffler’s 65 tied for the low round of the day with Fitzpatrick, and lifted him to a 54-hole total of 16-under 200.

Scheffler, who last won on the PGA Tour at the Players Championship in March, finished runner-up at the Hero World Challenge the last two years. Both times he said he needed a strong back nine to flirt with contention, but Viktor Hovland closed the deal.

“Hopefully,” Scheffler said, “I have one more good back nine in me.”

Here are four more things to know about the third round of the Hero World Challenge.

After 3 rounds at Hero, here’s the quick and dirty report card on Tiger Woods

There’s reason for optimism for Tiger Woods.

NASSAU, Bahamas — Tiger Woods had 100 yards to a pin tucked in the back right corner of the 11th green at Albany on Saturday. It was the type of shot he used to pull the string like a yo-yo, tap-in for birdie and move on to the next hole.

Woods selected a sand wedge and lofted the shot into the wind. It’s a shot he has hit hundreds of time, and perhaps for the first time in a long time he was in his own estimation 3 ½ steps too long, the ball bounding over the green. Death. He made yet another bogey on a par 5, the holes he cleaned up on during his prime.

“That was a hard shot,” Woods said. “It’s going to get stood up in the wind and I had to take off… trying to hit it right there pin high and I missed by three and a half steps.”

Still, there’s reason for optimism for Woods, and he had no trouble finding it after the round.

Tiger bounced back from a shaky bogey-bogey start with four birdies over the next seven holes. He made a birdie and two bogeys on the inward nine to shoot 1-under 71. Two days in a row in red figures isn’t too shabby after a seven-month layoff from competitive golf.

But Tiger knows that stats don’t lie – well, maybe sometimes – but not on this occasion. He has been negative Strokes Gained against the field in all three rounds in SG: Approach and SG: Putting. For the week, he ranks 20th in SG: Approach (and 19th in proximity) and 19th in SG: Putting. That doesn’t sound too bad except for the fact the Hero is a 20-man field. Dead last in approach the green for one of the best iron players of all-time is about as un-Tiger-like as it gets.

Is that just rust? Maybe. But it suggests he’s going to need more reps to get ready to play the majors in 2024. Albany is typically a birdie-fest, and he’ll need to be much sharper. His rounds have stalled on the back nine – he’s 6 under on the front and 6 over on the back, which typically is the tougher side – which suggests he may be running out of gas, understandably. The good news is that Tiger still has plenty of pop – he’s averaging 308 yards off the tee – and is encouraged by how his body is feeling and that’s a win for the week.

“To be able to knock off some of the rust as I have this week and showed myself that I can recover each and every day, that was kind of an unknown as far as I’ve walked this far, I’ve done all my training, but add in playing and concentration and adrenaline and all those other factors that speed up everything, I’m very excited how the week’s turned out,” he said.

Tiger, who underwent yet another surgery in April to fuse the subtalar (joint just below the right ankle) and address arthritis caused by his previous talus (ankle) fracture, still is walking gingerly at times but this week (so far) ranks as the best he’s looked physically in a while.

“I can always hit it, I could never get from point A to point B. Once the bone on bone was relieved with the fusion, it’s felt night and day,” he said. “I don’t have mobility, but the fact that I’m able to walk and participate again without having to feel the way I felt just trying to do it again, that was frustrating. Now I’m able to do it. Now it’s just a matter of getting the reps in.”

Asked whether his back is of concern, he said, “My back hurts every day. It is what it is, that’s just life. But I can deal with that, that’s not a problem.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=2621]

Tiger Woods shoots 1-under 71 during third round of 2023 Hero World Challenge

Another under-par day for the Big Cat.

The first two holes weren’t too kind to Tiger Woods on Saturday, and the 15-time major champion was 2 over through 2 heading to the third tee at Albany. However, Woods bounced back nicely at the Hero World Challenge, shooting a 1-under 71  during the third round in the Bahamas.

Woods got a shot back at the par-5 third after finding the green in two and did the same at the par-5 sixth to get back to even on the day. A beauty into the par-3 eighth from 190 set up his third birdie of the day. He’d add one more at the ninth to make the turn in 2-under 34.

After making the turn, Woods gave a shot back at the par-5 11th after a bad third to fall back to even for the tournament, 1 under on the round.

Woods converted two great up-and-downs on Nos. 12 and 13 before taking on the easiest hole on the course, No. 14, and adding a circle to the card. After a bomb on the par-5 15th, Woods failed to make birdie for the third straight day, missing a four-foot putt.

He finished his day with pars at Nos. 16 and 17, but missed a short par putt on 18 and signed for his 1-under 71.

Shot-by-shot: Recap every stroke from Tiger Woods’ 1-under 71 third round of the 2023 Hero World Challenge

Shot-by-shot recap of Woods’ 1-under 71.

After opening with a 3-over 75 on Thursday in the Bahamas, Tiger Woods rebounded with a second-round 2-under 70 on Friday at the Hero World Challenge at Albany — an event hosted by his TGR Foundation — and sat 1 over and solo 15th heading into the weekend.

The 15-time major champion and five-time winner of the Hero played with back-to-back defending champion Viktor Hovland for the field’s third trip around the Ernie Els-designed track.

Woods signed for a 1-under 71 Saturday, one stroke worse than Friday, after missing a short par putt on 18.

If you were unable to watch third-round action, read the recap Woods’ round shot-by-shot below, including some highlights from his day.

A pair of Texans lead, Tiger’s travails at 15 and Lucas Glover comes up aces among 5 things to know at Hero World Challenge

Here’s what you need to know from the second round in the Bahamas.

NASSAU, Bahamas — The world No. 1 is reminding us at the end of the year just how good he can be.

On Friday, Scottie Scheffler made eight birdies en route to shooting 6-under 66 at Albany Club to share the lead with Jordan Spieth at 9-under 135 at the halfway point of the Hero World Challenge. Brian Harman was alone in third a stroke back and Tiger Woods, who is making his first start since the Masters, roared to an opening-nine 32 before his round stalled and he settled for a 2-under 70.

There was a lot to like about Scheffler’s round —the low one of the day by the 20-man field — but when asked to name what he did best, he said, “I drove it well, gave myself a lot of chances. Yeah, that’s probably the thing I did best.”

Scheffler, who opened in 69, made birdie on three of his first seven holes before making a bogey on No. 8 after getting what he called a bad break. He heated up on the back nine with four birdies in a five-hole stretch beginning at No. 11.

“Kind of got into a nice groove there,” he said. Hit a good iron shot into 10, two good shots into 11, good iron shot on 12 and then I just hit a lot of quality shots and got some looks. That’s really just what I did best.”

Scheffler is trying to end the year on a high note. He’s a candidate for Player of the Year after notching two wins but hasn’t hoisted a trophy since the Players Championship in March.

Here are four more things to know from the second round of the Hero World Challenge.

Tiger Woods starts hot, struggles late Friday at 2023 Hero World Challenge

Woods shot 2-under 70 in the second round in the Bahamas.

Tiger Woods started brilliantly Friday, but it was once again a struggle on the way back to the clubhouse.

Woods’ second round in the 2023 Hero World Challenge at Albany in the Bahamas got off to a brilliant start, making birdies on his first two holes and sitting 4 under thru 7 and at the turn. Similar to Thursday’s opening round, he struggled as the day wore on. However, Woods was five shots better Friday, shooting 2-under 70 at the unofficial event that benefits his TGR Foundation.

“It was better than yesterday, for sure,” Woods said. “I’ve been more committed than I was yesterday. I made a few mistakes and overall the round was better, for sure. The start was better, the middle part of the round was better. I missed a couple putts there towards the end I thought would have kept the round going and unfortunately it kind of stalled out a little bit. Certainly better than it was yesterday.”

Woods made bogey after a three putt from 13 feet on the par-4 13th. Then, with only 182 yards left on his second shot into the par-5 15th, he made bogey after his birdie putt rolled back into a greenside bunker where he played his third shot from.

TIGER TRACKER: Woods’ second round with shot-by-shot analysis

Then on the par-4 16th, his approach shot came up short, and he was unable to get up and down, marking his third bogey in four holes.

He stopped the bleeding with a long birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole, salvaging the day and giving him a bit of momentum heading into the weekend.

When his second round finished, Woods ranked first in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, but he was dead last in putting among the 20 players in the field. However, he sits at 1 over for the tourney after 36 holes in his return to action after nearly eight months.

Check the yardage book: Albany for the 2023 Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas

Check out the details of the course where Tiger Woods makes his comeback to competitive golf.

The golf course at Albany in New Providence in the Bahamas – site of the 2023 Hero World Challenge – was designed by Ernie Els and opened in 2010. The layout ranks No. 25 on Golfweek’s Best 2023 list of top courses in Mexico, the Caribbean, the Atlantic islands and Central America.

On the island of Nassau, Albany’s layout features five par 5s and five par 3s. Part of a resort community, it plays to 7,449 yards with a par of 72.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the players – including Tiger Woods in his comeback to competitive golf – face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.

Shot-by-shot analysis: Tiger Woods shoots 2-under 70 Friday at 2023 Hero World Challenge

Woods is trying to improve on an opening 3-over 75.

Another day, another late morning and afternoon glued to the TV watching Tiger Woods in his return to competitive golf.

Big Cat returned Thursday for the first time since the Masters in April, shooting 3-over 75 at the 2023 Hero World Challenge in a round that started promising and dropped off toward the end. There was no shortage of excitement from Woods, however, and it was encouraging to see him moving freely throughout the day.

He sat 18th in the 20-person field after the opening day.

Woods teed off in the second round with Rickie Fowler at 11:02 a.m. ET. Check out his Friday round with shot-by-shot analysis below from Albany in the Bahamas.

Best shots: Check out Tiger’s Hero highlights