WOODS TO PLAY IN THE BAHAMAS

Tiger Woods showed he could walk four days while caddying for his son. Now he has decided he is fit enough to try to play.

Woods announced on social media Saturday he will be playing in the Hero World Challenge, which starts Nov. 30 at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas.

It will be his first time competing since he withdrew before the third round at the Masters after battling the wind and cold while playing on his injured right leg.

His TGR company announced his decision to take a sponsor exemption. The 20-man field is for the top 50 in the world ranking, though the tournament host — Woods — is exempt.

Woods had said in an interview with The Associated Press last week, when discussing his ownership of a team in the tech-driven TGL league, that his right ankle is pain-free after being fused in a surgery in April following the Masters.

“My ankle is fine. Where they fused my ankle, I have absolutely zero issue whatsoever,” Woods said. “That pain is completely gone. It’s the other areas that have been compensated for.”

He compared it with when he had fusion surgery on his lower back. He said the L5 and S1 vertebrae were fine.

“But all the surrounding areas is where I had all my problems and I still do,” he said. “So you fix one, others have to become more hypermobile to get around it, and it can lead to some issues.”

Wallace birdies back 9

Matt Wallace made nine consecutive birdies Saturday, all of them on the back nine for a 12-under 60 in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Wallace had a chance at the only the second 59 in European

tour history. He had 202 yards to the green on the par-5 18th on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. But he hit into a bunker, and hit out to inches from the cup for a tap-in birdie.

The nine consecutive birdies equal the European tour’s best by James Nitties of Australia in the 2019 Vic Open. The tour said it would not be considered a record because of preferred lies from overnight rains. Bernd Wiesberger in the 2017 Maybank Championship in Malaysia also had nine birdies in a row while playing under preferred lies.

Aberg keeps pace

Ludvig Aberg ran off four birdies and an eagle over a five-hole stretch on the back nine, not so much to pull away but just to keep pace. He had a 9-under 61 for a one-shot lead on an extraordinary day of low scoring in the RSM Classic at St. Simons Island, Ga.

Mackenzie Hughes narrowly missed a putt for 59. Eric Cole flirted briefly with a sub-60 round at Sea Island. A half-dozen players had at least a share of the lead at some point.

Aberg was at 20-under 192, one shot ahead of Cole (61) and two clear of Hughes (60).

Two tied in LPGA finale

Nasa Hataoka had a strong start and Amy Yang had a hot finish, finishing with a share of the lead in the CME Group Tour Championship with 18 holes left and $2 million on the line.

Yang had four birdies on her final six holes at Tiburon in Naples, Fla., for an 8under 64. Hataoka set the pace early with five birdies in her first 11 holes and finished with a 65.

They were at 21-under 195, scoring so low that they already are within two shots of the tournament record with one round to go.