Despite late ‘stall,’ Tiger Woods pleased with progress in Bahamas

NASSAU, Bahamas – Day 2 of Tiger Woods’ most-recent comeback wasn’t perfect but for a player who wasn’t sure when he would compete again as recently as two months ago, it was a step in the right direction.

Woods followed an opening 75 with a 2-under 70 that was “stalled” by more back-nine missteps. After opening his round with back-to-back birdies, he added two more at the sixth and the seventh holes to turn in 4 under. But for the second consecutive day, he stumbled late with bogeys at Nos. 13, 15 and 16.

“It was better than yesterday, for sure,” Woods said. “I’ve been more committed than I was yesterday. I made a few mistakes and overall the round was better, for sure. I missed a couple putts there towards the end I thought would have kept the round going and unfortunately it kind of stalled out a little bit.”

Woods is currently 15th in the 20-man field. At 1 over par through 36 holes, he trails co-leaders Jordan Spieth (67) and Scottie Scheffler (66) by 10 shots.

Scheffler had eight birdies and two bogeys on Friday while Spieth had five birdies and no bogeys. They lead Open champion Brian Harman (69) by a shot.

The good news for Woods, who last played competitively in April when he withdrew from the Masters after three rounds, followed by surgery on his right ankle, is he avoided the really big mistakes like he had on Thursday at Albany. Although, he did have a surreal moment at the par-5 15^th hole when he sent his 65-foot putt off the green and into a bunker.

“I haven’t played in six months. Things are not as sharp as they normally would be,” admitted Woods. “There’s some good in there and just got to make sure that the good is more consistent than it has been.”

Beyond the scorecard, Woods also seemed pleased with the progress he’s made with his ankle as he prepares for next season.

“This week is a great beta test to figure out what I can do,” he said, “what the plan is going forward, what we’re going to do in the gym, what I need to do, and just overall just analyze what it’s like to compete and play and the things I need to strengthen and the things I need to work on in the gym to be ready for next year and the next season.”