It may be his first round in just under four months. The last 12 months may not have been the kind he has ever had to endure in his entire career. The injuries, coach switch, intense glare and everything else that goes with it may often seem to take the focus away from what he has achieved in his amazing career, but Tiger Woods' focus is unwavering.
The only thing he is looking for what he competes is a big 'W' – a win.
Asked on the eve of his comeback at the Hero World Challenge, if his expectation was still a win, despite the lay-off, pat came the answer, "Obviously or I wouldn't enter." So that settles it – he is playing to increase his collection of World Challenge trophies from five to six.
Exchanging good humoured banter with his friend and new sponsor, Pawan Munjal of Hero MotoCorp, Woods had a comfortable round. And his partner in the Pro-Am, Munjal admitted to a few butterflies at the start. "It must have taken a couple of holes or maybe three before I was comfortable and hit the way I wanted to, though I missed a birdie chance on the first."
Maybe Woods too has been thinking a while about his return that there seemed to be little sign of apprehension on his part, too. Coming back from the round in Pro-Am, which was his first with a scorecard to fill, Woods when asked about the excitement of a new swing, a new coach and all that, replied, "Yeah, I felt like I really needed today though. I wanted to do some more work on the golf course yesterday afternoon, but the rain canceled that out a little bit.
It was nice to get out there today (Wednesday in Orlando) and play and see what the greens are. They're a lot slower than they were two days ago with all the rain. I got to do some work. Didn't quite have the speed. Been a little slower greens."
On the first proper round outside of practice, he added, "Yeah, obviously been playing at home with my boys for a little bit of cash, but still a little bit different. Every shot counts a little bit more. Felt good to be out there. Yeah, it felt good to be out there."
Right at the end of the afternoon, he went out full with his drive, an indication that he feels he is in good condition. He said, "That's the neat thing. I took that much time off right after the PGA and built up my body and made a few adjustments on my swing and hit some good shots today."
He concluded saying, "Hopefully it'll feel really good. I'm starting to get my power back; starting to get my speed back. That's been nice."
The first round begins on Thursday at 11.40 am (10:10 pm IST) and by the time it finishes it will be breakfast time in India on Friday.
Woods is paired with Jason Day, whose success this year included a WGC title. Eighteen players feature in the Hero World Challenge which has a purse of $3.5 million with the winner taking a cool million dollars.
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