Thursday (finally) the shots will count for real. As much as they can in an 18-man field with no cut on a course in Albany that serves as Woods’ home away from home on an island paradise that has a vibe to match.

“It’s been a very long time,” said Woods, who, in case you’ve been living in a North Korean cave for the past month, will play his first tournament in nine months when he tees it up alongside Justin Thomas for the opening round.  
ordan Spieth, who has never even played in a tournament won by Woods (his last victory was in 2013, Spieth’s rookie year), is much like Thomas and the rest of us, eager to see what Woods will do.

“He seems more confident this year the way he’s walking and talking,” Spieth said. “He seemed more excited at the Presidents Cup before he was even swinging, more anxious, and it seemed to really bother him that he was following doctor’s orders, like he really wanted to get going. So once he was given the go, I think it was exciting for him. We’re all very interested, as we should be, in how it goes for him this week, and obviously hoping that’s the start.

Related: Tiger aims to be more than ‘YouTube legend’

“I think it’s an easy week for Tiger as it is for anybody else versus other weeks; not as many people, the golf course doesn’t beat you up, [not] as challenging. But you can start to see it’s actually pretty important, these kinds of end-of-the-year tournaments to kind of set a precedent for next year.”

Woods? He says he is pain-free and in a considerably different place than he was last year at this time when he attempted to come back after 15 months away from golf from what was his third back surgery. Of course he offered similar platitudes 12 months ago and six weeks and three rounds later he was finished, undergoing a fourth back surgery.

Related: For Tiger Woods to (finally) have a successful return to golf, he must …

“My physio was certainly working overtime last year after every day and even in the morning trying to get me ready to go,” Woods admitted when asked the difference between this week this year and this week last year.

So far, this one really does seem different. His game has looked better, too.

There was a dart to 10 feet on the par-3 second. Then he drove the green at the par-4 seventh, which was playing downwind, and knocked in a 15-footer for eagle. On the par-5 ninth, another birdie. More good shots followed: A big drive on 11, birdie on 14, a dart inside five feet on 17.

Not everything was highlight worthy. Woods had his share of loose shots and a few putts that missed badly, the product of gross misreads.

The biggest area of concern for Woods going into Thursday?

“Hitting the ball the correct distances every time,” he said. “That part’s been a little bit more of a difficult thing to do.”

So, too, will be managing expectations, for just about everyone but Woods.

The post It’s a start: Tiger Woods neither dazzles nor disappoints in Hero World Challenge pro-am appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers

It’s been more than three weeks since Tiger Woods posted a swing video. It’s been more than two weeks since the 14-time major champ announced he’ll make his return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge. And it’s been more than one week since his surprisingly candid conversation on Geno Auriemma’s podcast.

In other words, we were hungry for a Big Cat comeback update by the time Tuesday evening rolled around. But thankfully, we got one — even if it wasn’t directly from Woods. Instead, it came courtesy of Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier, who probed Rickie Fowler for info regarding Woods’ distance off the tee of late, and. . . better dust off your Sunday red shirts, everyone!

Asked Rickie if the rumors are true that Tiger's been hitting it by him in practice at Medalist.

He said "Oh yeah. Way by."

So yeah, Tiger's back

— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) November 14, 2017

OK, so we might be overreacting just a tad. Despite their 13-year age difference, Woods was hitting it well past Fowler in last year’s Hero World Challenge, and Fowler could just be feeding the Tiger frenzy. Still, we’ll take any positive news regarding Woods’ recovery from a fourth back surgery in April. And Fowler’s quote is also in line with something Woods said in his chat with Auriemma.

The post Rickie Fowler says Tiger Woods is hitting it “way by” him in practice rounds appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The club twirl. The Sunday red shirt. The “Stinger.” If you’re playing Tiger Woods Comeback BINGO, you can circle all three of this trifecta of Tiger signature moves as of Monday afternoon. The 14-time major champ released his latest video and this time, it was a slow-mo clip of his patented low-trajectory tee shot set to a nice little sound effect. Check it out:

Return of the Stinger. #starwars pic.twitter.com/R7srIDGXjl

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 23, 2017

Looking pretty smooth, Tiger — especially bending down to pick up the tee. This certainly won’t do anything to quiet down the chorus of “He’s BACK!” exclamations across the country.

Woods is still recovering from a fourth back surgery in April and has been taking things slowly, but his agent, Mark Steinberg said last week that his client has been cleared “to resume full golf activity with no restrictions.” With this latest box checked, we await one more big announcement: When and where Woods’ latest return to competitive golf will officially take place.

The post Tiger Woods posts slow-mo video of him hitting his patented “stinger” appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Great clinic by Tiger Woods and Kevin Chappel today . pic.twitter.com/sLIQIwzkL8

— Kevin Roman (@kevinromangolf) October 10, 2017

That’s some vintage Tiger twirling right there.

But seriously, the swing didn’t look half bad, either. Woods was on hand with fellow PGA Tour pro Kevin Chappell for his Tiger Woods Invitational clinic at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Here’s another clip of Woods hitting a shot after Chappell:

A huge thank you to @kevin_chappell for joining me on the range for a fun exhibition with #TWInvitational guests @tgrliveevents pic.twitter.com/QZiSDv7zPk

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 10, 2017

Unfortunately, that video cut off before we had a chance to see another Tiger club twirl. But if Woods is posting it, he must be happy with how his swing is coming along — although, he didn’t appear to take any swings with the driver.

In recent weeks, Woods has shared a couple videos. First, a slow-motion clip of him hitting a pitch shot, and then another slow-mo video from Saturday of him hitting a “smooth” iron shot. At the recent Presidents Cup, where Woods was a U.S. assistant captain, he said he was happy to be back at a golf tournament and at times, was seen grabbing other players’ clubs. But that week he also admitted he could “definitely” see a scenario in which he doesn’t return to pro golf.

Woods, 41, last played competitively at the Dubai Desert Classic in February, withdrawing after the first round. He underwent a fourth back surgery in April.

Last year, Woods returned from an even longer injury layoff at his Hero World Challenge in December, however, he hasn’t been added to this year’s field yet. We’ll keep monitoring his latest comeback, though, one swing — and one club twirl — at a time.

RELATED: Tiger Woods’ latest swing shows he’s alive — and not much more

UPDATE: More on the club twirl front, with Woods calling his shot, “a high draw” “left of the flag” this time:

?HERE’S WHAT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. pic.twitter.com/Ww0YniYAeM

— TWfans (@TwSpot) October 10, 2017

Exciting stuff.

The post Tiger Woods hits more shots at golf clinic, shows off vintage club twirl appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.