“It was fun to feel that again every day” - Tiger Woods optimistic and excited as he successfully pieces together rounds after ankle injury recovery

Tiger Woods is optimistic about recommencing his golfing journey after his 18th-place finish at last week's Hero World Challenge. It marked his return to competitive golf after seven months of hiatus due to an ankle surgery.

Woods claimed the 18th spot on the leaderboard with a decent performance in the 20-player field. The 15-time Major champion settled for an even-par score, finishing 20 strokes behind winner Scottie Scheffler.

During a press conference, Woods opened up about his performance and mentioned how much he enjoyed competing. He said that since he hadn't participated in a competition in a while, he was initially assessing his abilities on the field.

Tiger Woods said (via the NY Post):

"Just like I said to you guys on Tuesday, I’m curious...what this is going to look like. I haven’t done it in a while — I haven’t done it with my ankle the way it is now and I was excited each and every day to kind of get through it and kind of start piecing rounds together again. I haven’t done this in a long time, so it was fun to feel that again."

He added:

"I got faster into the round the first day took me a while to get get a handle on it. Second day was faster today was right away. And that's eventually when I play on a regular basis. That's normally how it is. It takes me usually during warm up before I get a feel for the round and I be honest with that first day took me a while."

Scheffler, who was a runner-up in each of the previous two editions of the Hero World Challenge, registered a three-stroke victory over Sepp Straka. Straka closed the final round with an 8-under 64.

Justin Thomas took third place. He got off to a rough start at the tournament but bounced back quickly and ended it four strokes behind Scheffler with a score of under 16.

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Tiger Woods' performance at the 2023 Hero World Challenge

Tiger Woods opened the 2023 Hero World Challenge with a birdie on the third hole on Thursday, November 30. He scored three over 75 in the opening round, after his four birdies, five bogeys, and one double bogey.

The American improved in the remaining three rounds, putting on a show especially on Friday. He shot a 2-under-par 70 in the second round after making five birdies and three bogeys.

Tiger Woods recorded 71 in the third round and 72 in the second to finish with a total of even par 228.

He will next compete at the PNC Championship, a 36-hole father-son event. Speaking about the tournament, Woods said (via Sky Sports):

"It is an amazing gift to be able to share my love of golf with Charlie and we genuinely do look forward to playing in the PNC Championship all year. Competing together, against a field of so many golfing greats and their families, is so special."

The 2023 edition of the PNC Championship is scheduled to take place from December 14 to 17 at the Ritz Carlton Golf Course.