Tiger’s back in the swing

HE OUTDRIVES DUSTIN IN A ROUND WITH TRUMP AHEAD OF COMEBACK

TIGER WOODS is swinging the club so freely ahead of his latest comeback in the Bahamas this week that he regularly outdrove world No1 Dustin Johnson in a friendly fourball in Florida on Friday.

This startling, eyewitness nugget comes courtesy of former US Ryder Cup player Brad Faxon, who teamed up with the fourth member of the group — US President Donald Trump — for a match staged at Trump’s course in the wealthy enclave of Jupiter, where Tiger and Johnson have homes.

‘They played from the back tees at 7,600 yards while we played from the blue tees at about 6,500 yards,’ said Faxon, a member of Trump’s club, in a piece for Golfweek.com. ‘Tiger looked great to me. He was happy and, more than anything, he’s finally pain-free. His swing looked effortless, he looked free and he had some power.

‘I was impressed with how far he hit the ball. On the ten holes they hit driver, Tiger hit it past Dustin half the time. He was not concerned about swinging hard and going at it with his driver. The ball flight, the sound off the club, all of it was right there.’

As Faxon acknowledged, there’s a world of difference between looking good in practice and what will happen when Tiger makes his scheduled return to tournament play next year, when he will have turned 42. But it all augurs well for his own exhibition event this week, the Hero World Challenge.

Woods (below) hasn’t been in competition since the sad sight of him walking like an old man in the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic in February. Since then he has had fusion surgery on his back.

Then in May he was found asleep at the wheel of his Mercedes by the side of a road, with the engine still running, drugged up to the eyeballs on a cocktail of painkillers.

Now the sightings are positive, with Faxon’s thoughts echoing those of Rickie Fowler and others who have seen him play. As for Trump, whose listed handicap is two, Faxon said: ‘The President was gracious and entertaining. He told some stories and things he loves about the job and some he doesn’t.

‘I think he was excited to be in that group.’

For the record, Faxon missed a nine-foot birdie putt at 18 that would have earned himself and the President a notable win.

Meanwhile, at the Emirates Australian Open, it wasn’t much fun for Tiger’s big pal Jason Day, whose final-day collapse let in home rookie Cameron Davis. The gifted Davis, 22, who also earned a spot at The Open at Carnoustie next year, has now made a name for himself for something other than his remarkable practice routine. He warms up by hitting shots right-handed and left-handed in turn — and swings the club almost equally well both ways. At the UBS Hong Kong Open, Wade Ormsby made it a double for Aussie golfers with his first European Tour title. Tommy Fleetwood finished sixth and Justin Rose tied 10th, while Miguel Angel Jimenez, at the age of 53, shot a final round 63

for a tied seventh.