Feel blessed, says comeback man Tiger

ALBANY, BAHAMAS: Monday was overcast in Nassau, the exotic capital of Bahamas and the playground of the rich and famous of US and Europe. There were spells of light rain and the winds gathered force in the Atlantic as the day merged into night. And as the sound of the sea swirled around the city, so did the buzz around Tiger Woods who has chosen the 2017 Hero World Challenge to make his comeback into competitive golf.
No surprise the Albany golf course is now the focus of the golfing world. With eight of the world’s top-10 players featuring in one of the strongest invitational fields ever, the Hero World Challenge (Nov 30-Dec 3) is showcasing global golfing glitterati. That apart, what adds significant value to the event is Woods’ presence on the greens — in a competitive atmosphere.
The 14-time Major winner, who is also the event host, is making a comeback after a nine-month absence after taking one of the two exemptions for the tournament. Woods last played a competitive round on the first day of the Dubai Classic in early February but a severe back problem forced him to pull out and he has not played in competition since. Having undergone lengthy recuperation from his fourth back surgery in April 2017, Woods is delighted that he is finally going to do what he loves doing and what the world wants him to do — play and sizzle on the greens.
“Sometimes, I didn’t think it’s going to ever happen (his comeback). I’ve been struggling for a long time and I’m blessed to have come out of it on the good side,” Woods told a group of Indian journalists at the Albany course on Tuesday.
Did he ever think of giving it all up during his lengthy layoff ? “I was struggling to get up from bed and struggled to go to my kids’ games… It meant so much for me to participate in their games and I was not able to do that…it was really bad. But now I can play around with football, toss the baseball around.”
When did he think he was ready to step back into the course? “I wanted to announce it about a month back. So I worked very hard, hitting a thousand balls everyday and found out that it was fantastic, I was ready to go,” Woods said. But he also sounded a note of caution. “I would like to say that I’m here to win it, like I always do. But it’s a different feel now because I don’t know how my body will respond, how well it will last.”
Pawan Munjal, chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp, said, “With Tiger making a comeback after nine months, there is already a massive buzz around the Hero World Challenge 2017. This is certainly going to be an exciting week of worldclass golf.”
The field for $3.5 million PGA Tour event is led by Dustin Johnson, who has been world No. 1 since February 2017.
THE FIELD (with world rankings)
Dustin Johnson (1), Jordan Spieth (2), Justin Thomas (3), Hideki Matsuyama
(5), Justin Rose (6), Brooks Koepka (7), Rickie Fowler (8), Henrik Stenson (9), Matt Kuchar (15), Alex Noren (17), Tommy Fleetwood (18), Francesco Molinari
(21), Patrick Reed (23), Kevin Kisner
(25), Charley Hoffman (27), Daniel Berger (28, special exemption), Kevin Chappell (32), Tiger Woods (1193, special exemption).