The Tiger who came to tee is hungry again

TIGER WOODS is planning a full schedule for 2017 after accepting he needs to play more tournaments to regain his sharpness. Even though he finished 15th in a 17-man field at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on Sunday in his comeback following 15 months out after two operations on his back, the former world No1 still moved up 248 places in the world rankings to 650th. It was a mixed return to competitive action for the 14-time Major champion.

He had rounds of 73, 65, 70 and 76 and finished the tournament as the leading birdiemaker with 24 but also had eight bogeys and six double-bogeys.

“I made some good, positive things happen,” said Woods. “I made a lot of birdies, I also made a lot of mistakes. Most of those mistakes I can clean up. I know that they are silly mistakes.

“I haven’t played; I need to play more tournaments. Zero in 15 months is not a lot.

“In my heart of hearts, I would like to play a full schedule next year.

“I’ll have a couple of weeks off, work with my physios, get a bit stronger and then really assess the plan and what is the smart play.”

Open champion Henrik Stenson, who was runner-up here to Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, wants to see how Woods handles the first part of 2017 before making any long-term judgment.

“I am sure there were people saying after Tiger’s second-round 65, ‘He’s back, he’s back’. But then we all know how easy it is to swing from one side of the scale to the other in just two rounds of golf,” said Stenson. “We need to give Tiger at least six tournaments, maybe up to the time of the Masters, as four rounds after being away for 15 months is far too early to be judging him.”

Stenson added: “The thing is with Tiger he has won 79 times on the PGA Tour and once he finds his comfort zone, gets his game together and puts himself into contention he will not have forgotten how to win. You never forget how to win – that never goes away.”

Zach Johnson, also a winner of the Open, has one wish for those on Tour who have never faced Woods head-on in competition.

“My desire is for some of these young guys to experience for at least one year, at least one, maybe two, of what most of us have experienced for a long time,” he said.