Recapping Tiger: A “Very Good Week” for the Big Cat

Tiger Woods carded a final-round 4-under 68 to finish T9 in his return to competition this week at the Hero World Challenge.

With rounds of 68-68-75-68, Woods finished at 8 under, and 10 strokes behind winner Rickie Fowler.

RECAP: TIGER WOODS

Here’s a recap of Tiger’s four rounds in the Bahamas:

1. Score: Woods finished 31-37-68 with six birdies, one eagle, two bogeys, one double-bogey and eight pars. He finished tied for ninth place.
   • Round One: 35-34-69 (-3)
   • Round Two: 31-37-68 (-4)
   • Round Three: 40-35-75 (+3)
   • Round Four: 31-37-68 (-4)
   • Total: 280 (-8, T9)
2. Greens in Regulation: He was at his most accurate today, hitting 72% of his greens (13 of 18), after hitting just 50% yesterday. His final tally was 46 of 72, good for T7 in the field.
   • Round One: 12 of 18
   • Round Two: 12 of 18
   • Round Three: 9 of 18
   • Round Four: 13 of 18
   • Total: 46 of 72 (64%, T7)
3. Putting: He was consistent through all four rounds, finishing with 28-26-28-28 putts per round and 1.674 Putts Per GIR (T10).
4. Driving Accuracy: As he was with his GIR, Tiger also had his best day off the tee, hitting 85% of them (11 of 13). His four day total was 34 of 52 for a 65% clip (T7 in the field).
   • Round One: 7 of 13
   • Round Two: 9 of 13
   • Round Three: 7 of 13
   • Round Four: 11 of 13
   • Total: 34 of 52 (65%, T7)
5. Red Numbers: He finished with six birdies and one eagle on Sunday – his best day in terms of scoring points. In total Tiger finished with 17 birdies and two eagles, for a fifth place position.
   • Round One: 5 Birdies
   • Round Two: 4 Birdies, 1 Eagle
   • Round Three: 2 Birdies
   • Round Four: 6 Birdies, 1 Eagle
   • Total: 17 Birdies, 2 Eagles (21 points, T5)
6. Head to Head: He played for a second time with reigning PGA Tour Player of the year Justin Thomas and once again posted a matching score.
   • Round One: Woods (69), Justin Thomas (69)
   • Round Two: Woods (68), Henrik Stenson (71)
   • Round Three: Woods (75), Hideki Matsuyama (72)
   • Round Four: Woods (68), Justin Thomas (68)
7. Where Tiger Scored: He played best on the front nine with two rounds at 5-under 31 and just one over par. The inward nine was more of struggle for Tiger, as he shot over par twice, and finished just one-under par overall.
   • Front Nine: 35-31-40-31 (-7)
   • Back Nine: 34-37-35-37 (-1)
   • Par 3s (Par 15): 14-16-14-15 (-1)
   • Par 4s (Par 32): 29-31-34-32 (-2)
   • Par 5s (Par 25): 26-21-27-21 (-5)
8. Summing It Up: In all, Tiger was impressive in his return to action. Despite a lengthy layoff, he finished in the top 10 against a world-class field, and outperformed some of the very best including No. 1 Dustin Johnson. He had stretches where he seemed to be running out of gas, and his accuracy with a retooled swing is a work in progress, but overall it was successful debut. Tiger summed it up best, “I am excited the way this week has gone. It was a very good week.”

Credits: PGA Tour Media, Getty Images