Latest act of Woods’ career good for golf

THE sport of golf couldn’t help but break into a collective smile Tuesday at the sight of Tiger Woods conducting his pretournament press conference in advance of this week’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. Have we seen this before? Yes. This is the third time Woods has begun a competitive comeback from injury at the Hero, a tournament he hosts and represents a soft landing spot because of its 20-player field and the flat Albany Club golf course.

But Woods’ appearance on Tuesday felt and — more significantly — sounded different in that he spoke with more optimism about his health than we’ve heard in years.

Woods said his plan is to play nearly once a month, beginning with this week and including the Genesis Invitational in February, perhaps the Players Championship and/or Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, before the season of major championships, beginning with the Masters in April.

“Best scenario would be maybe a tournament a month,” Woods said. “I think that’s realistic. You would have to start with maybe at the Genesis Invitational and something in March, maybe the Players. We have a setup right now, the biggest events are one per month. It sets itself up for that. I need to get myself ready for all that. I think this week is a big step in that direction.”

Woods, who turns 48 on Dec. 30, also spoke with a new-found conviction about utilizing his presence in the game as a more powerful influence to it off the course since he’s joined the PGA Tour’s policy board as a player director in August.

He was notably disgusted by the events of June 6 when PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suddenly announced that “framework agreement’’ with the Saudis without any player input or knowledge. Woods made it clear that he joined the board to ensure that kind of decision isn’t made again without player input.

“I was frustrated with the fact that the players were never involved,” Woods said. “This is our tour, and we were all taken aback by it. It happened so quickly without any of our involvement. No one knew. That can’t happen again. I enjoy the fact that I’m able to make an impact differently than just hitting a golf ball. I think I can have a lasting impact by doing what I’m doing, but being on the board and being a part of the future.’’

This is, indeed, a new era of Tiger Woods we’re embarking on — a more involved, visible and hopefully healthy Woods.

The first act of his career was about shattering almost every record there is on the golf course before several public scandals began to derail his dominance. Woods, too, has had his battles with pain killers, evidenced by his being found asleep at the wheel of his Mercedes on the side of a Florida road in the middle of the night. Injuries have also defined — and deterred — his career, the worst of which came as a result of the car crash in February 2021. Since then, Woods has been a shell of himself on the golf course, making only five tournament starts since. He hasn’t had a top-10 finish since 2020 and sits at 1,328th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

He finished 47th at the 2022 Masters, withdrew from the 2022 PGA Championship, missed the cut at the 2022 British Open, tied for 45th at last year’s Genesis and withdrew from last year’s Masters because of a left foot and ankle issue that was a result of the car crash.

This week will mark the first time Woods has played since the Masters last April and he said his game “feels rusty.’’

“I haven’t played in a while, so I’m excited to compete and play and I’m just as curious as all of you are to see what happens,’’ Woods said. “I can tell you that I don’t have any of the pain that I had at Augusta or pre [Augusta] in my ankle. So, that surgery was a success.

“I love competing and I love playing and I miss being out here with the guys. I miss the camaraderie and fraternity of being out here and the banter. There will come a point in time — and I haven’t come around to it fully — that I won’t be able to win again. When that time comes, I’ll walk away.’’

When he was asked if that means he still thinks he can win again, Woods didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“Absolutely,’’ he said.