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Tiger Woods: American returns to golf in the Bahamas

Woods tees off during Wednesday's Pro-Am.

Woods tees off during Wednesday's Pro-Am. Photo: Getty

The sporting world will be fixated on Tiger Woods this week as the 14-time major winner makes his long-awaited return to golf in the Bahamas.

Woods will end a 16-month sabbatical from the sport in his own invitational event, the Hero World Challenge – an 18-man tournament that features no cut but traditionally attracts a strong field.

The 40-year-old – who was world No.1 for 683 weeks and is undoubtedly the sport’s biggest name – famously battled the yips before undergoing back surgery in 2015, and since then he has postponed several returns to the sport.

Despite not winning a tournament since 2013, Woods was full of his trademark confidence ahead of his official comeback, even if he did acknowledge he was slightly nervous.

“I’m not dead. I’m ready to go,” he said.

“I’m nervous for every tournament I play in whether it’s after a lay-off or six in a row or a major.

“I care. If I care, I’m nervous. And it’s good to be that way.

“To have that nervous energy and channel it into aggression, into focus, concentration, that’s good stuff. I want to be out here so bad – and now I am.”

Woods has plummeted to 898th in the world rankings and admitted it was hard to delay his return.

He was scheduled to play in the Safeway Open in October and the Turkish Airlines Open in November but said he was “not yet ready”.

But he is confident it was the right move, saying he was full of belief after a 70, including two eagles, in Wednesday’s Pro-Am.

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Woods fronts the press in the Bahamas. Photo: Getty

“The competitor inside me wanted to go so badly and was itching to go,” he said.

“I thought if I only have a few shots, it’s good enough to get it around.

“But what’s the point in rushing back when I’ve waited over a year to begin with? I’ve waited this long, it’s not going to hurt to wait just this much longer.

“I have way more shots now, because I’ve played way more golf. I only had a handful of shots back then.

“And you just saw a session where I hit everything. And I had control of everything. I can hit all the shots now, on call.

“If I enter an event, I’m going to try and win the thing. I know that’s a tall order but the mindset is still there.”

Since Woods last played competitively, Nike has stopped manufacturing golf equipment, meaning another change for the 14-time major winner.

Woods will use a TaylorMade driver and a Bridgestone ball.

‘Tiger can catch me’: Nicklaus

No one has won more golf majors than legend Jack Nicklaus’ haul of 18.

Woods is just four behind, but has not won since 2008, an eternity for a player who won all of his in an 11-year period.

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Woods at the last event he won – the 2013 WGC Bridgestone Invitational. Photo: Getty

It seems unlikely he can surpass Nicklaus, but the American told the BBC that his record is far from “safe”, adding that Woods’ issues were more mental than anything else.

“I’ve always thought that he’s got at least another 10 years of good competitive golf in front of him, if he’s healthy and as talented as he is,” Nicklaus said.

“I don’t think anything is safe.

“I’ve talked to Tiger a reasonable amount in the last year or so.

“He keeps saying he is fine, he looks good, he’s ready to play, yet he hasn’t come back to play.

“That probably is the five inches between his ears, that is the part that he’s having trouble with. We’ll see, I wish him well.”

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