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Tiger Woods banks on 'new, but old' swing

As his tournament kicks off, former No.1 golfer hopes to return to top with a game that is more suitable to his age and strengths

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Former World No. 1 Tiger Woods returns to the turf after four months. He was last seen at the PGA C’ships in August where he failed to make the cut
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The field at the Hero World Challenge is only 18 players, but 16 of them are in the top-26 of the world. Three are coming straight from a win in their previous start and a bunch of them have won at least once in their last six starts and a majority of them have tasted success at least once this year.

Yet the focus is on the man, who is hosting the $3.5million event, Tiger Woods, whose theme right now is 'Back to the future'.

He has a new swing teacher, Chris Como, recommended to him by his longtime buddy, Notah Begay. He says he has a stronger body and understands that you no longer need to belt the ball, but play smartly and according to your age.

And what of his swing, which is the most talked about topic in golf. Calling it a 'new, but old' swing, Woods has been referring to some tapes in his house. Tapes that go back to his amateur days. He gushed, "Actually, it's pretty interesting trying to find a VHS recorder," Woods said. "I have a lot of tape like that. Fortunately, my mom is of age where she has that still in the house. So that was very beneficial to look at some of the old tapes."

It all happened when Notah first recommended Como and then set up a meeting. Como had some ideas and thoughts and that excited Woods, who after parting ways with Sean Foley did not have a coach.

Woods said, "I was very surprised and very excited to see what he (Como) felt my swing should look like, and should look like going forward. Because that was very similar to the vision I had."

"It is new, but it's old," he said. "I say that because I haven't done it in a very long time. We looked at a lot of video from when I was a junior, in junior and amateur golf... And it was quite interesting to see where my swing was then and how much force I could generate with a very skinny frame. How did I do that? How do I generate that much power? That's kind of what we are getting back into it."

And now because of his age – he turns 39 on December 30 – he feels he cannot compete in terms of distance with the guys like Bubba Watson and others, who consistently go over 325 yards. Also that puts stress on his body, which has been on a surgeon's table many times. He has had four operations on his left knee besides trouble with his Achilles tendon (2011). Now there is the back problem.

So, what's the situation now? "I've gotten stronger. I've gotten more explosive. I've gotten faster," he said. "I now just need to hit more balls. But the body is good. I don't have the sharp pain like I used to at the beginning of the year. I don't have that anymore. I still have some aches and pains, just like anybody else who is my age and older." Laughter all around.

While Woods will be under focus, Henrik Stenson, Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama, who have won in their previous starts in Dubai, Australia and Japan, respectively would love back-to-back wins. Then there is Rickie Fowler, a top-5 finisher in all Majors this year and who is coming off three straight top-8 finishes. He needs a win to cap this wonderful year. Meanwhile, defending champion Zach Johnson, who beat Tiger in the play-off last year, will try and become only the second back-to-back winner.

In 2011, Woods snapped a 107-winless streak at the World Challenge and a win or even a good showing this week could signal that he is ready for 2015. That after a four-month lay-off sounds great to the golf fraternity.

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