Hype builds for Woods
Foes say he appears to be playing without pain
NASSAU, Bahamas — All eyes are on Tiger Woods and his return to golf, even the playershe has to beat. Especiallythe players. Woods was on the back end of the practice range Monday at Albany Golf Club, hitting balls with Patrick Reed, when he looked up at a drone buzzing about 50 feet over him in the cloudy sky. He had no idea that Daniel Berger was at the controls.
Berger was on the front of the range, blocked by a row of bushes in the sand dunes. As the drone’s camera zoomed in, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Kisner and their caddies crowded around Bergerto look.
They cared more about his reaction to the drone than his swing.
But they are curious about hisgame.
Andthose who have played with Woods in recent weeks believe there is reason for the hype.
“People are going to be shocked at how good his game looks,” PGA champion Justin Thomassaid.
Thomas will have the best seat in the house Thursday when Woods, who had fusion surgery on his lower back in April, plays for the first time in 10 months at the Hero World Challenge. Thomas, named the PGA Tour player of the year after winning five times and the FedEx Cup, is paired with him in the first round.
The attention on Woods increased in recent days as more players joined him for casualrounds.
“Tiger looked great to me,” Brad Faxon wrote in a story for Golfweek. “I was impressed with how far he hit the ball. Probably on the 10 holes that they were both hitting driver, Tiger hit it past Dustin[Johnson] half the time and Dustin hit it past Tiger half the time. He looked great. I think more than anything, he looked at ease. He was not concerned about swinging hard and going at it with driver. The ball flight, the sound off the club, all of it was rightthere.”
Johnson is among the elite power players in the game. Truestory?
Johnson smiled. “He hit it by me a couple of times. Did I bomb one and he hit it past me? No. But he did hit past me a few times. He was moving it, though.”
All this hype in the chill environment of the Bahamas should sound familiar. It was only last year when Woods returned after 15 months away from the game. He had gone through three back surgeries at that point and looked relatively normal, with freedom in his swing. Woods missed the cut at Torrey Pines two months later, flew to Dubai and managed one round — a 77in calm conditions — before withdrawing with back spasms.
What appears to be different this time, at least from those who have played with him,is the absence of pain.
Reed played nine holes of practice with him Monday morning. He saw Woods do whatever he wanted with his swing and saw an assortment of shots — a stinger off the tee, alow draw, a high cut.
“He seemed to have command of not only the golf club, buthis body,” Reed said.
Woods has played only three tournaments since August2015.