Monday 5 December 2016 18:08, UK
After Tiger Woods made his long-awaited return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge, we take a look at what we learned from his game, and his fitness, and whether he can get back to anywhere near his best.
One of the key questions heading into the week was how much Tiger had changed his swing to alleviate the pressure on his back and knees. The answer? Technically, not a lot, but the changes were subtle and should serve him well going forward.
The main difference in his swing compared to recent years was the rhythm and tempo. We've often seen Woods lashing at the ball in a bid for maximum power, but he was smooth and well-balanced in the Bahamas.
He was still getting the ball out there reasonably well, but overall his swing appeared quieter and far more easy on the eye.
Woods did have issues hitting fairways, but we'll give him a pass on that as he was armed with a new driver, new three-wood and a new ball.
When Woods returned to action at the same event after an injury lay-off two years ago, it was his pitching rather than his long game or fitness that caused the utmost concern.
At his home course in Isleworth, Florida, his tee-to-green game was in reasonable shape, but his touch and technique around the greens led many to believe he had been struck down with the dreaded yips.
But it was a different story in the Bahamas. Tiger's first pitch from off the putting surface early in his first round was near perfect and left him a simple tap-in for par, and his short-game helped him pick up a number of birdies over the week.
Yes, there was a chip at the ninth on day one which rolled back down the bank, but that was more of a misjudgement than a lack of technique or commitment. Compared to 2014, this area of his game was a major improvement.
Very solid. Woods admitted at the start of the week that it could take him a while to get the pace of the greens at Albany, but he looked assured and confident from the start with the short-stick.
He was clearly delighted to be reunited with his favourite Scotty Cameron putter that won him many a major, and his putting stroke looked very close to the Woods of old.
There were a couple of mis-reads and the occasional miss from short range, but he binned his fair share of putts including a couple of tramliners from outside 30 feet. You don't make 24 birdies in a week without putting well!
And it was also great to see the Tiger fist-pump celebration when he saved par from 20 feet on the 16th to keep a bogey off his card towards the end of his super 65 on day two.
The back held up and his flexibility looked in good order, but the main drawback from Tiger's lengthy absence from the game was his clear fatigue towards the end of his third and fourth rounds.
The watching masses held their breath went Woods occasionally looked a little slow when bending down to collect his tee, but this tended to coincide with his ball heading towards a waste area rather than a fairway.
Woods admitted himself that he was feeling weary on the back-nine on day three, probably the main contributory factor to his inward 38 which took the gloss off his incredible start.
It doesn't matter who you are - four rounds of tournament golf can take it out of you, particularly when you haven't done it for the best part of a year and a half, and the nervous energy that Woods expelled would also have been a factor.
Encouraging. Woods experienced the full range of emotions throughout the tournament, and the fact that he didn't finish bottom of the leaderboard was genuinely a good result for him.
What we didn't expect him to do was lead the field in birdies made, and he certainly got the pulses racing when he followed his faultless 65 on day two with four birdies over the first five holes that got him within two of the lead on Saturday.
His game got a little ragged from there on, but there was enough evidence to suggest that Woods can still be a factor on the PGA Tour when he gets back to tournament fitness.
The desire and the determination was clear, and it was also heartening to see Woods clearly enjoying being back in competition. There are still many questions to be answered, but the Big Cat is back, and we will watch his journey with interest.
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