Saturday 3 December 2016 09:03, UK
Tiger Woods was delighted to keep a "clean card" after signing for a superb seven-under 65 in the second round of his comeback at the Hero World Challenge.
Woods was just as happy with his clutch par-saves as he was with his seven birdies at Albany as he staged an impressive recovery from an opening 73 in which he slipped from four under to one over.
Playing on his own following the withdrawal of Justin Rose, Woods birdied the first and added another at the sixth before making a brilliant up and down at the short eighth, where he splashed out of the waste area to eight feet and nailed the par putt.
He then birdied five of the next seven holes and avoided a blemish at the 16th when he blocked his drive into the scrub and gouged his second further along the waste area before managing to get his third onto the green.
Woods celebrated with a trademark fist-pump after holing from 25 feet to make his four, and two closing pars kept him at six under for the tournament - six shots adrift of leaders Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama heading into the weekend.
"I wanted to keep that card clean," said the tournament host, who was four under par after eight holes in the opening round before he lost momentum with bogeys at the par-five ninth and 11th holes.
"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.
"Yesterday I had it going and I lost it and finished over par, but today it was different. I turned those two par-fives into under-par and consequently I was able to play the middle part of the round better. It feels good, I kept the momentum going and moved myself up the board."
Woods, who has been out of action since undergoing back surgery last September and a follow-up procedure the following month, also revealed that he no longer endures punishing gym routines to protect his ailing body.
"I've had four knee surgeries, three backs - my body has been through it," he added. "I don't load the spine like I used to, and 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."
Woods, who does not have a swing coach with him in the Bahamas, will limit himself to short-game practice over the festive season before returning to "training camp" in the New Year as he continues to fine-tune his new swing.
"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. "We'll have little windows where we'll practice when I have time to do it, 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."
