Tiger Woods flashes skills, suffers through struggles in return to golf

Tiger Woods showed some of his old touch, and also some new rust, as he returned to the golf game.

Playing in his first tournament since withdrawing from the Masters in April, Woods fought through the definition of an up-and-down round at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas during the first round of the Hero World Challenge. Woods finished at 75, three strokes over par to put him 18th in the field of 20.

Woods striped his initial tee shot right down the middle of the first fairway. Walking with a slight limp, he managed to card some brilliant birdies, including this long putt at the 11th:

Alas, not every Woods shot was quite so memorable, as in this botched attempt to escape from a bush on the 15th:

Woods would double-bogey the 15th, part of a late stumble that included bogeys on the next two holes. He stopped the bleeding with a tap-in par on the 18th. He hit six of 13 fairways on the day and nine of 18 greens in regulation.

Every time Woods holed one of his four birdies on the afternoon, he immediately gave the stroke back, bogeying the very next hole. His 3-over back nine was far worse than his even-par front, perhaps evidence of an unfamiliar grind as Woods looks to recover from surgery to fuse his ankle earlier this year.

"I was rusty. I didn't have my feels," Woods smiled afterward. "Kind of went sideways at the end."

Woods is attempting a return to the game after yet another long layoff, this one as the result of fusion surgery he decided to have on his ankle following a rugged week at Augusta earlier this year. Woods has only played all four rounds of a major once since 2020, but he is planning to compete soon at the PNC Championship with son Charlie, and at multiple tournaments next year.

Tony Finau and Brian Harman lead the Hero World Challenge at 5-under after turning in 67s on the day. The no-cut tournament continues through Sunday.