NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods started with brief run at the lead. Hideki Matsuyama ended Saturday on his way to another victory.

Matsuyama, a winner in three of his last four tournaments, holed out for eagle on the front nine and kept his mistakes to a minimum for a 7-under 65 to build a seven-shot lead in the Hero World Challenge.

British Open champion Henrik Stenson (66) and U.S. Open winner Dustin Johnson (72) were the closest players to the Japanese star.

Woods was even farther back – 11 shots – though the opening hour was filled with big excitement and raised expectations. Woods opened with three straight birdies, and then holed out a 40-yard bunker shot on the par-3 fifth hole to get within two shots as Matsuyama was getting started.

But it didn’t last.

After an 18-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole to reach 11 under, Woods started missing fairways and dropping shots. And he ended the third round with another tee shot into the water on the 18th hole for a double bogey. He had to settle for a 70 and was in 10th place among 17 players.

Even so, Woods has made 19 birdies in three rounds of his first tournament in 15 months. Asked what he would have thought at the start of the week to hear that he was 8-under par through three rounds, Woods replied, “I’ve had said I’d be pretty far behind. And I’m right.”

Matsuyama was at 19-under 197, matching the 54-hole score by Bubba Watson last year at Albany. A year ago, Watson had a two-shot lead. No one is close to Matsuyama, the hottest player in golf over the last two months.

“I knew somebody was going to go low, but I thought it was going to be probably three, four guys that would post this kind of a score,” Woods said. “But Hideki is just playing unbelievable golf.”

Johnson tried to stay with him, but had a hard time keeping it out of the sandy areas off the tee. Matsuyama was two shots ahead when he laid up on the short seventh hole, which played downwind, and then one-hopped his wedge into the cup for an eagle. Just like that, the lead was up to four. And when Johnson kept making mistake, ending with a double bogey on the 18th, the margin only got wider.

Brandt Snedeker (69) and Matt Kuchar (71) were at 11-under 205.

Matsuyama took notice early when he saw Woods made a brief run up the leaderboard.

“Only Tiger could take a year-and-a-half off and put up the numbers he’s putting up this week,” Matsuyama said. “I don’t care how many strokes I’m leading over him, I still worry about him, fear him.”

That was more respect than reality. The winners of golf’s two oldest major championships this year don’t sound like they have much of a chance from seven back.

“Anything’s possible, but I’m going to have to shoot a really special round,” Johnson said.

Matsuyama won his first World Golf Championships title last month in Shanghai at the HSBC Champions, winning by seven shot over Stenson and Daniel Berger.

“That’s exactly what he did at HSBC Champions, and it was not much to do at that time. And possibly, that could be the same tomorrow,” Stenson said.

Woods still captivated the small island crowd, at least with his start. He three-putted for bogey to slow his momentum, and he missed a pair of 6-footers for par early on the back nine. Still, most players said his score was above their expectations given the injuries he had and the rust he accumulated.

Woods said he had no expectations at all, though he was surprised about his start. Typically after a long layoff, Woods said he struggles to get going. Now it’s about finishing a round.

“That’s the most concerning part of the game, is getting off to I guess halfway decent starts,” Woods said. “But I’ve been into the round early, and I’ve been able to build a significant amount of positive shots and go under par early. And unfortunately, I haven’t been able to keep it going, except for yesterday. I didn’t hit the ball that poorly today, but hit bad putts in the middle part of the round.”

NASSAU, Bahamas – Dustin Johnson wasn’t even expecting to be in the Bahamas for the Hero World Challenge. He was tied for the lead Friday with Hideki Matsuyama, who has reason to expect being at the top of any tournament he plays.

Six shots behind was Tiger Woods, who shot a 7-under 65 without anyone in his way.

Johnson ran off three straight birdies early in his round, moved into contention with an eagle and closed with a fearless drive down the middle of the water-lined 18th fairway at Albany that set up a birdie for a 66. Matsuyama had the lead to himself until a bogey from the bunker on the par-3 17th. He shot a 67 to tie Johnson at 12-under 132.

They were two shots ahead of Louis Oosthuizen and Matt Kuchar, who each shot 67.

No one knows winning like Matsuyama over the last few months. He has three victories in his last four starts around the world – the other was a runner-up finish in Malaysia – which includes his first World Golf Championship title at the HSBC Champions.

Johnson was scheduled to play an exhibition against Rory McIlroy in the Philippines on Tuesday, and while he thought about a trip halfway around the world to get to the Bahamas on time, he was resigned to sitting this one out. But he never withdrew in case the exhibition fell through, and it did.

NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods saved par from the dunes with a shot so good that two spectators ran over and scooped up sand for a souvenir.

It also served as motivation Friday at the Hero World Challenge. The tee shot on the par-3 eighth that landed next to a bush was so bad that Woods said he told caddie Joe LaCava after his par putt, “I’m not dropping a shot.”

Woods capped off a bogey-free round with an even more unlikely par save, but what stood out at Albany was a seven-hole stretch in the middle of the round in which he never really missed a shot. It led to enough birdies for a 7-under 65, at least getting him back toward the middle of the pack against an 18-man field.

His golf was as good as it was Thursday, his first competition in 15 months, only this time he eliminated the mistakes.

“I wanted to keep that card clean,” Woods said. “I don’t know what it is about playing and competing, but keeping cards clean, there’s something really special. And it feels pretty good about doing that.”

And he did it quickly, in just under three hours.

Justin Rose, who opened with a 74, withdrew with back problems. That left Woods as a single, and when he realized there would not be much wind, he felt he could play just as well without a marker (typically the club pro) to get a feel for how various shots might be affected.

He was on his own and moving in the right direction.

The par save on No. 8 and a wedge to tap-in range on the No. 9 allowed him to make the turn in 33, just like Thursday. The difference was how he finished.

After pounding a drive down with the wind at his back on the par-5 11th – he had to carry a bunker 290 yards away – he switch to a 5-iron to play away from a bunker to the right of the green, making sure he would have the right angle to the pin. It was right where he was aiming, a yard off the green, setting up an easy two-putt birdie. He followed that with a 6-iron to a foot for birdie on the 12th, a 10-foot birdie putt on the 14th and a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th.

He made seven birdies, but nothing brought out the emotion like a par.

His tee shot on the 16th, where he made double bogey on Thursday, took a wild hop into a bush in the sandy area. Enough of the ball was showing that Woods tried to hit 6-iron to the front bunker, but it came out heavy into more of the waste area. The next shot was well beyond the hole.

The par putt dropped on its final turn, and Woods thrust his fist toward the cup and slapped the face of his putter.

Two more pars, and he was done and feeling much better about the next two days.

“I really had it dialed in both ways,” he said. “I was shaping it both ways and I really had nice control of my (trajectory). That was the key. I was able to keep the ball down when I needed to and send it at times.”

Woods stayed out of golf following two back surgeries over the last three months of 2015, and he had not competed since a tie for 10th at the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 23, 2015. There have been no issues with his back, and Woods said he has made a few changes with his swing and how much he works away from golf.

If he looks slimmer, he says he picked up an illness from his children over Thanksgiving. More relevant is that he said he no longer lifts weights or trains like he once does. Woods said he used to run 30 miles a week in his early days on tour.

“I’ve had four knee surgeries, three backs. My body’s been through it,” he said.

As for the weights?

“I don’t load the spine like I used to,” he said. “I’m trying to do other things to gain strength. I don’t have any problem with suppleness and flexibility, but I also need to have stability.”

As for his swing, Woods said he has made subtle changes to alleviate the strain on his back.

“I’ve tried to go back and look at and do some stuff that I used to do as a junior that I did naturally,” he said.

Another change is that he is at Albany without a swing coach. Woods began working with Chris Como in November 2014, but the work is done in what Woods described as “training camps.”

“We’ll have little windows where we’ll practice when I have time to do it,” Woods said. “Then I’ll shut it down, I’ll work on my short game in the backyard, chip and putt, and then we’ll have another training camp a week or two later.”

The real measure might not come until early next year, when he gets more tournaments and different – and colder – conditions. Friday was just another round, and a step forward.

UXBRIDGE— With the holiday season right around the corner, Golf Ontario is ready to help shoppers find the perfect gift for the golfer on their list. Golf Ontario is proud to announce the 12 Days of Golf fundraising campaign, which officially gets underway December 1st and will run until December 12th.

“This is a great way for golfers to purchase exclusive tee times to the best golf courses in Ontario,” said Golf Ontario Director of Business Development Tracey McElrea.

Devil’s Pulpit, Wildfire Golf Club and Brampton Golf Club are just some of the exciting courses that will be up for grabs.

Wildfire Golf Club

“Our goal is to make this a one-stop shop for people looking for gifts for golf enthusiasts,” McElrea added. “Once a foursome has been purchased, it will be wrapped exquisitely and couriered right to the purchaser’s address so that it is ready in time for the holidays.”

The best part about the campaign is that all of the proceeds will go towards the Golf In Schools Program.

“We are pleased to be putting the proceeds towards the Golf In Schools Program in Ontario,” McElrea explained. “The Golf In Schools Program helps to shape the lives of young people and reinforces values like integrity, respect and perseverance through the game of golf, all of which are core values of Golf Ontario.”

When the 12 Days of Golf begins December 1, multiple foursomes will be available for auction each day. The items will only remain live in the auction for one day, so bidders are encouraged to check back each day to see what foursomes are available. Once the first day is complete, a new set of foursomes will be posted. All items will have a minimum bid, depending on the course, and will have a Buy It Now feature, in case there is an item that is a must have.

Golf Ontario and Golf Canada would like to thank the participating courses for supporting this outstanding initiative.

The auction will be accessible through Golf Ontario’s main webpage (gao.ca) and will also be live on Golf Ontario’s eBay page beginning December 1st.

NASSAU, Bahamas – Not only did Tiger Woods return to golf Thursday, he returned to being Tiger.

Just not for long.

Hardly looking like a player who had not competed in 466 days, Woods ran off three straight birdies with a variety of shots and was tied for the lead in the Hero World Challenge as he approached the turn.

Three shots in the bushes, one shot in the water and a few fits of anger sent him toward the bottom of the pack. A pair of double bogeys over the final three holes ruined an otherwise impressive return, and Woods shot 40 on the back nine at Albany Golf Club and had to settle for a 1-over 73.

He was in 17th place in the 18-man field. Only Justin Rose had a higher score.

Even so, Woods has reason to be encouraged. After taking off 15 months to recover from two back surgeries, he felt no pain or limitations. His misses were not big, just costly. And he was playing again.

“It could have been something really good,” Woods said. “I got off to a nice, solid start and made a few mistakes there. I didn’t play the par 5s very well in the middle part of the round and consequently, got it going the wrong way. … But all in all, I feel pretty good. I’m looking forward to another three more days.”

He was nine shots behind J.B. Holmes, who opened with an 8-under 64 and had a one-shot lead over Hideki Matsuyama, with U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson at 66.

Curiosity was greater than expectations for Woods, who was coming off the longest hiatus of his golfing life. Plagued by back problems since 2013 when he was No. 1 in the world, he finally shut it down after tying for 10th in the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 23, 2015, and then going through two back surgeries.

He was in so much pain last year there were times he wondered he had played his last tournament.

With high anticipation, he tugged his opening tee shot into the rough on the left edge of a bunker and gouged that out to 15 feet for par. Just like that, it all started to feel as though he had never been away.

“By the time I hit my tee shot on the second hole, I had already gotten into the flow of the round,” Woods said. “That’s something that for me, when I’ve taken layoffs and taken breaks, it’s how quickly can I find the feel of the round? To not play in 15, 16 months and get it on the second hole is nice.”

He also knew that with only a stiff tropical wind behind him on three of the par 5s, scores would be low.

For a short time, Woods seemed up to the task. He hit a 5-iron from 231 yards just over the green and passed his first test, a 30-yard pitch-and-run and that checked slightly and rolled out to a few feet from the hole for a birdie . He faced a more difficult pitch up the slope on the next hole and hit a chunk-and-run to 3 feet.

His confidence kept building – the flop shot from 40 yards to 5 feet for birdie on the par-5 sixth, the wedge to 5 feet for birdie on the seventh, and a 6-iron he struck so well on the par-3 eighth that he was asking for perfection. “One yard! One yard!” he said as the ball was in the air, and then settled 2 feet away.

At that point he was tied with Holmes.

But he flubbed a pitch on the par-5 ninth and made bogey. Two holes later, he flared an iron from the sandy waste area into a bush and had to take a penalty shot, making another bogey on a par 5. Woods was still hanging around in the middle of the pack when he hit 7-iron to 12 feet on the par-5 15th and two-putted for birdie.

And then it all fell apart.

Froom the middle of the 16th fairway, he pulled his approach and dropped the club as it sailed into a bush. He had to play that backward to the fairway, pitched a wedge some 30 feet by and made double bogey. And then on the 18th, he pulled his driver and immediately slammed the club into the turf as he watched for the splash.

His pitch hit the pin – it was too strong, anyway – and he missed from 20 feet for another bogey.

“Just made some really silly mistakes, mistakes I don’t normally make,” Woods said. “But I haven’t played in a while. Unfortunately, I made those mistakes. I can clean that up. We’ve got three more days. Wind is supposed to pump on the weekend, and I’ll be playing a little bit better.”

Highlights from Tiger’s round:

As 2016 comes to a close, I would like to thank you for supporting the game of golf through your membership with Golf Canada and your provincial golf association.

Your 2016 dues are being invested back into the sport:

• Golf in Schools now delivering its curriculum to 3,108 schools across Canada
• Future Links welcomed 85,000 junior golfers at 536 participating facilities
• 145 Golf Fore the Cure events conducted across Canada raised $354,000 in support of breast cancer research
• National, provincial and regional golf competitions
• Course and Slope Rating; Rules and Handicap seminars; coach training and certification
• Preservation of golf history and heritage through the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum

It was exciting to see so many members engaged in the sport this past season:

• A membership base that includes close to 310,000 golfers across the country
• Golf Canada members posted more than 7 million scores following rounds at member golf clubs
• The average member golfer enjoyed approximately 20 rounds this season
• 35 million page visits on Golf Canada’s website – the #1 source for Canadian golf news

Team Canada athletes continue to inspire on the global golf stage—Jared du Toit’s run at the RBC Canadian Open; Hugo Bernard capturing his first Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship; Mackenzie Hughes’ incredible season that included victories on both the Web.com Tour and PGA Tour; and Brooke Henderson, the first Canadian female to win a major since Sandra Post, capturing her first LPGA Major at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Golf’s return to the Olympic games for the first time in 112 years saw Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp, David Hearn and Graham DeLaet proudly represent Canada in Rio de Janeiro.

Golf Canada, along with our provincial partners, are investing in the overall health of golf and that investment simply wouldn’t be possible without our members. The initiatives supported through membership dues are helping to create a new generation of golfers and life-long enthusiasts that contribute to the vitality of the sport.

Thank you for your continued support of our great game.

Sincerely,
Scott

Not a Golf Canada member? Click here to learn more.

NASSAU, Bahamas – This might be one time that Tiger Woods doesn’t measure success on the golf course by the score on his card.

He measured it with three words Tuesday: “I’m playing again.”

There were times during his 15 months away from golf that Woods wasn’t entirely sure that would be the case. He said that when he was at the Hero World Challenge last year, he needed help just to climb out of bed. At an outdoor party at Albany Golf Club, he would mingle for a few minutes and then sit on a stone bench.

He spent more time looking back than looking forward, saying at one point that anything else he achieved in golf would be “gravy.”

And now he can’t wait to get started on Thursday.

The 15-month break to heal following back surgeries is the longest he has been away from golf. Woods was a mixture of optimism and reality about his return. He talked about having all the shots he needs to compete against a field that includes 17 players from the top 40 and Woods, the tournament host who is at a career-low No. 898. He is playing, so he said he wants to win. The outlook is no different.

He also noted that Bubba Watson won last year at 25-under par, and it probably will take something around that to win.

“I know that’s a tall order since I’ve been away from the game for so long and I’ve made a lot of different changes in my game,” he said. “Physically and also equipment, practice schedules, training, all that has evolved. The mindset of competing hasn’t. That is to go out there and try to beat these guys.”

He still is working with swing coach Chris Como, whom he brought on two years ago. Now that Nike is out of the equipment business, Woods is using a TaylorMade driver and fairway metals, a Bridgestone golf ball and his old Scotty Cameron putter that he used to win all but one of his 14 majors.

But it starts with playing.

“Put it this way: It’s a lot better situation this year than last,” Woods said. “I just couldn’t get out of bed. I needed help. It was a tough, tough time. You asked me then, ‘Could I play?’ No. I can’t even get out of bed. How am I supposed to swing a club at 120 miles an hour? That’s just two different worlds.”

The Hero World Challenge, which he started in 1999 to benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation, is effectively a holiday tournament for golf’s elite that has no cut and pays $1 million to the winner. It feels so much bigger this year because of Woods.

Over the last year, he played five holes to open his new golf course, Bluejack National, outside Houston. And he took three swings with a wedge on the par-3 10th hole at Congressional during a day to promote the Quicken Loans National. All three went in the water.

Everyone is curious to see how he plays. That includes Woods.

His biggest concern is how far his shots will go because he hasn’t played with any adrenaline since the final round of the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 23, 2015. He doesn’t know how his game will stack up against players he watched at Hazeltine when he was an assistant captain at the Ryder Cup.

His previous long break from golf was eight months when he had reconstructive surgery on his left knee after winning the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the last of his 14 major titles. He won his opening match in the Match Play Championship and won two tournaments later at Bay Hill.

That was a knee. This is a back.

He was 33, not a month away from turning 41. And that was long before any chaos in his personal life.

Asked what he would expect to feel Thursday at Albany Golf Club, Woods said, “I’ll let you know then, because I don’t know right now.”

“Yeah, there’s nerves, of course, because I care. I care about what I do out there,” he said. “I want to win, and I want to place the ball in the correct spots, give myself the best angles and bury these putts. Trying to figure that out, yeah, there’s nerves.”

Woods often talks about the “process” when he’s changing his swing. This was a different kind of process. It starts with hitting golf balls at home, then playing a practice round at home, and then bringing that game out to a tournament, competing and eventually getting into contention.

“Right now, I haven’t even competed yet, so I’m at the beginning stages of that,” he said.

Jack Nicklaus spoke Tuesday morning at the HSBC Business Forum in Florida and talked about how golf wasn’t nearly as important to him as competing. That’s something to which Woods can relate. What he said he missed was the competition, whether on tour or at home with friends.

“But the bigger the stage,” Woods said, “the more fun for me.”

OTTAWA – The National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) took to Parliament Hill to conduct their National Golf Day and meeting with Parliamentarians to discuss the business of golf in Canada.

“Golf is one of Canada’s most beloved sports with more people playing the game than any other sport,” said Scott Simmons, NAGA Chair and Golf Canada CEO. “There are an estimated 5.7 million Canadian golfers and there are 2,400 golf courses and practice ranges in Canada and the industry contributes more than $14 billion to the GDP per year.”

While golf continues to be a favourite pastime for Canadians, it’s important to note that the small businesses involved in the golf industry have felt the impact of the weak economy over the past several years. Both participation rates and employment have significantly decreased. The outdated federal tax legislation ‎that places all golf businesses at an unfair competitive disadvantage can no longer be sustained.

“Golf is the most effective option for business people investing in client relations to generate sales and employment” states Jeff Calderwood, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada. “The income tax act properly allows for those necessary expenses applied to all competing industries such as restaurants, concerts, spectator sports, all other participation sports, theatre, concerts and more. But client golf is not permitted due to a 45 year old section of the Act that was written at a time when golf was a small niche market for the wealthy. It’s now 2016 and golf is not only the most popular participation sport but also the most valuable client entertainment option for businesses.”

To avoid this unfair disadvantage on such an important small business industry, the same 50% deduction must be applied to expenses incurred when taking client guests to the golf course. This will not include golf memberships. Calderwood notes that the expression “more business done on the golf course than in the boardroom” is well known due to the effectiveness of client golf. “But we can only provide those benefits if the Income Tax Act allows us an equal opportunity to all other industries”.

“The Minister of Finance is currently engaged in a review of Canada’s tax expenditures, to ensure that they are fair and effective,” concluded Calderwood. “Our recommendation is for just that: fairness. Current tax law imposes a significant burden on our industry which is already hurting from weak economic growth. We are a collection of small businesses who are simply asking to be treated fairly.”

On June 1, Mr. Tilson, MP for Dufferin — Caledon, introduced a Private Member’s Bill which would allow businesses who are entertaining clients on the golf course the same 50% deduction enjoyed by competing hospitality industries.

Winter Park, Fla. – Global Golf Post today announced its men’s and women’s amateurs of the year for 2016, as well as its fourth annual All-Amateur teams for men and women.

Three-time British Seniors Amateur champion Chip Lutz was selected as the male Amateur of the Year, while UCLA senior Bronte Law was named the female Amateur of the Year. Lutz is an American, while Law is from England.

“Each fall, The Post labors to find the two players who epitomize the best of the amateur game: a man and woman whose legacy is an inspiration for others,” The Post’s Steve Eubanks wrote for the magazine’s Nov. 28 edition. “Lutz won his third British Seniors Amateur championship in August and followed it up with a low-amateur finish at the U.S. Senior Open … Law became the only player other than Stacy Lewis to win 5 points in one Curtis Cup. She also charged from seven shots back to win the European Ladies’ Amateur and then made the cut in the Ricoh Women’s British Open. Law put an exclamation point on her summer by capturing the deciding point for England in the European Ladies’ Amateur Team Championships, the first victory for England in that event in 23 years.”

In addition, The Post unveiled its fourth All-Amateur selections for men and women in the amateur, mid-amateur, and senior amateur categories. A total of 201 players from 29 countries were recognized for on-course excellence in 2016.

“Amateur golf is a part of the DNA of The Post,” said founder and publisher Jim Nugent. “We take great pride and similar joy in supporting the amateur game, globally.”

Amongst the 178 players worldwide selected for the awards, nine Canadians were recognized at the amateur, mid-amateur and senior amateur levels.

Here is a list of the Canadians and their respective categories:

Men’s Amateur:

• Jared du Toit – Kimberly, B.C. (Honourable Mention)
• Hugo Bernard – Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., (Honourable Mention)

Men’s Mid-Amateur:

• Garrett Rank – Elmira, Ont. (First-Team)
• Kevin Carrigan – Victoria, B.C. (Honourable Mention)

Women’s Mid-Amateur:

• Christina Proteau – Port Alberni, B.C. (Second Team)
• Shelly Stouffer – Nanoose Bay, B.C. (Second Team)

Men’s Senior:

• David Schultz – Calgary (Honourable Mention)

Women’s Senior:

• Judith Kurinis – Thornhill, Ont., (First-Team)
• Helene Chartrand – Pincourt, Qué. (Honourable Mention)

To see the entire award winners list, click here.

NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods has gone through two back surgeries since he last played a golf tournament 15 months ago. He had another back surgery that knocked him out of the Masters for the first time in 2014. He had four knee surgeries before that.

None of that matters to Ernie Els when Woods returns to competition this week.

Els is more curious about what’s going on in his head.

“The talent’s there. It’s been proven. It doesn’t go away,” Els said. “It’s what you think of yourself. It’s what you think where you are. We look at this great player, but he’s not seeing the same stuff in his own mind. A lot of us are like that. When you’ve achieved as much as he has … it’s a shock to the system not to play as good as you have been. To look at other people looking at you like, ‘Hey, you’re not the same guy,’ that’s hard to take.”

Els, perhaps more than any other player, has a deep golfing connection with Woods.

He was the player Woods sought out 20 years ago at Royal Lytham & St. Annes when deciding whether to turn pro. They had so many meaningful battles, and Woods almost always got the better of him. Els was runner-up to Woods seven times, the most of any player.

Els designed the Albany golf course where Woods comes back from the longest layoff of his career. He plans to be in the Bahamas, and he is as eager as anyone else to see how a guy who won 79 times on the PGA Tour, including 14 majors, stacks up against a generation that grew up in awe of how Woods played golf.

The Hero World Challenge is a holiday tournament with an 18-man field and no cut. Even so, it commands as much attention as any tournament this year. Woods has been a star attraction his entire career, and the appetite is even stronger after an absence that dates to Aug. 23, 2015.

“I can’t wait to watch, either, just to see him play,” Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III said. “The last time I saw him play, I won. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. I’ve seen his swing. I’ve seen him on video. He’s sent me clips, and I’ve heard the description of how he feels. I’m excited to see him play.”

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” he added. “And I want to see the start.”

Woods already has had one false start. He signed up to play the Safeway Open, only to pull out three days later because he said he felt “vulnerable.” That followed a week as assistant captain at the Ryder Cup, and cramming in practice the week before with results that made him want to wait.

Love won the Wyndham Championship last year in August at age 51, and it could easily have served as a model for Woods – a power player no longer in his prime, not among the biggest hitters anymore, but with enough experience and talent to find a way to score and to win.

“It has to motivate him that Vijay Singh is lasting until 53, that Ernie is still competitive, that Davis is still competitive,” Love said. “He knows Jack Nicklaus won the Masters in 1986 playing part-time. He knows what everybody has done. I know he’s working hard not to come back and be average. He wants to come back and win again.”

That might be expecting too much, way too soon.

Woods hasn’t won a tournament since his seven-shot victory in the Bridgestone Invitational in 2013, the year he won five times and was PGA Tour player of the year. He hasn’t had a serious chance at winning since his tournament three years ago when it was at Sherwood Country Club. Zach Johnson holed a wedge from the drop zone to force a playoff, and won when Woods missed a 5-foot putt in the playoff.

No other player has ever faced so much scrutiny, especially now.

“I won’t be able to turn the TV on, or the radio on, or look at my phone without knowing what he shot,” Jim Furyk said. “The expectations are so high. … Every pitch shot, every putt, every 3-footer, it’s not under public scrutiny like he has. I guess you live by the sword, die by the sword. That’s why he’s Tiger Woods. It’s a tough situation.”

Woods said his health had nothing to do with pulling out of the Safeway Open, and Els believes him. He says Woods is in better shape than some players in their 20s. Then again, he has accumulated plenty of emotional baggage over the last several years, on and off the golf course.

“They physical side is not an issue. It’s the other side that’s an issue, whatever is blocking him,” Els said. “But you’ve got to get on the horse. You can’t be standing on the sidelines. You’ve got to get out there. … Hopefully, he plays well, really, for his own goodness, his own sake, his own mental sake. If he plays well, it would be great. He’ll have hope and start a good schedule. If it goes the other way, he’s behind the 8-ball again.”