Breathe easy, Tiger Woods fans.
The man in red and black had a tremendous day at the Hero World Challenge and previous reports of the death of his career (like all of them on Thursday) seem to have been premature.
Oh wait, that wasn’t Tiger in red and black at Isleworth. That was actually Patrick Reed who played with Woods and shot a 63 (!) in front of the 14-time major winner.
Tiger also looked good, though. He had a strong second-round that, despite petering out at the end, looked much more vintage Tiger than that 77 he posted on Thursday.
Despite the better score on Friday (70) Woods said he couldn’t tell a noticable change other than the number on the scorecard.
“It really wasn’t a whole lot different,” said Woods to NBC’s Steve Sands.
Woods, who was battling a high fever, had a clean card except for a bogey at No. 8 and a double at the last after an hour-long rain delay which left him at 2 under for the day but 3 over for the week.
When asked about what he struggles most with as he eases back into competitive golf, Woods said it’s the grind of 72 holes.
“Getting the feel and the flow for competing again,” said Woods. “The rhythm of the rounds. Sometimes it takes me a few holes, sometimes it could only take me a shot and I feel like I’m back into tournament mode.”
Woods’ round did include his first eagle of the calendar year 2014. Here’s a look:
Woods looked pretty good all day, despite the finish.
His short game will need work to get back to where he once was but his swing has actually surprised a lot of people in both its fluidity and repeat-ability.
He was even hitting draws off the tee!
And working in a maniacal #TourSauce laugh after yanking his shot at the final hole and subsequently chunking (for the fifth time this week) his chip shot.
That chipping is just staggering to watch. We’re talking about one of the best golfers in history barely connecting on not-very-difficult pitch shots.
Deservedly (based on those chunks), after 36 holes at the Hero World Challenge Tiger is still double-digit strokes back of the lead. You have to think he’s fine with that, though.
This week is more about getting through 72 holes pain-freek with a swing he trusts more than his last one.
Woods won’t win this tournament but that never mattered. Two more days like this one on the weekend and things will be looking up for him as 2015 looms.