What does Tiger Woods' first tournament back from injury say about his future?

Look, we've been here before. Tiger Woods has had almost as many comebacks as he has majors won, and each time, the narrative runs a familiar route: Woods returns in a low-pressure, low-stress situation, he performs reasonably well, given that the bar is lying on the floor, and the talk about Woods being "back" shifts into a higher gear. It's a comforting, if very familiar, ritual.

Woods will be 48 years old later this month. That, by the inexorable crush of time and biological reality, means that his latest return has a much narrower runway and closer horizon than, say, his return from a broken leg in 2008. Then again, you don't need to consult Wikipedia to know that since 2008, Woods has won exactly one more major than you have, so the likely outcome of this latest return is fairly easy to anticipate.

And yet ... maybe it's because Woods was so dominant for so long, maybe it's because he still casts an outsized shadow over the sport, maybe it's because focusing on the warm nostalgia of Tiger is more appealing than looking at the hellscape of present-day golf ... whatever the reason, Woods' return remains a compelling storyline, and the possibility that he could perform well at a major is an enticing one.

Woods finished the 20-man Hero World Challenge Sunday at even par, not an exceptional number but good enough to defeat defending U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark and returning-from-injury Will Zalatoris. This marked Woods' first tournament since he withdrew from the Masters in April and underwent surgery to fuse his ankle.

"I was excited each and every day to kind of get through it and kind of start piecing rounds together again," Woods said after the final round. "I haven't done this in a long time, so it was fun to feel that again."

By the numbers, Woods' tournament was decent by normal standards and exceptional for one coming off a nine-month layoff. He finished the week 75-70-71-72, averaging 304.9 yards off the tee. He struggled close to the green, a difficulty that was to be expected, given how long he has been away from the game at a competitive level.

"It's not like I have to go and try and find something the next few weeks or something going into next year," he said. "What I've been working on is right there, and maybe just tighten up a little bit."

"Next year" is the key question for Woods. He said earlier in the week that he hoped to play at least once a month in 2024, and he reiterated that Sunday after the tournament.

"I think that having a couple of weeks off to recover, a week to build up, there's no reason why I can't get into that rhythm," he said. "It's just a matter of getting in better shape, basically. I feel like my game's not that far off, but I need to get in better shape."

Woods has also taken a more active role in the direction of the PGA Tour itself as it seeks to formalize the agreement struck in June with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV Golf. Woods said earlier in the week that he and other players felt left out of the negotiations — because they were — and "that can't happen again."

Woods is next scheduled to play in the PNC Championship, a two-day, parent-child exhibition in Orlando, with son Charlie. After that, he's likely to tee it up in the Genesis Invitational in February, a tournament that benefits his own foundation. From there, the schedule becomes obvious: the Players in March, the Masters in April, the PGA Championship in May, the U.S. Open in June, the Open Championship in July, with other tournaments, such as the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial, potentially sprinkled in.

How he'll perform at those — and what state the sport of golf will be in at that point — is anyone's guess, but he's as ready as a multiple-surgically-repaired multiple-major winner can be.