Tiger Woods shoots 75, looks physically healthy in return to golf at Hero World Challenge 2023

Woods got off to a nice start but struggled late in his first event since the 2023 Masters

Tiger Woods shot 3-over 75 in Round 1 of the 2023 Hero World Challenge on Thursday in the Bahamas, but that was hardly the story. In his first round since withdrawing from the Masters in April, Woods -- following a subtalar fusion procedure earlier after that Masters -- looked more physically fit and capable with both his swing and his game than he has over the last few years.

Through 14 holes, he had it going a bit, too. Woods hit his first tee shot in nearly eight months for 326 yards, tied for the longest in the field on that particular hole. What followed were some free, great drives followed by sloppy approach play that often left him in bad spots on the open but fairly testy Albany Golf Course.

"I was rusty; I didn't have my feels," Woods told Golf Channel. "Conditions were tough early. I kind of hung in there, and I did not finish off my round the way I needed to. Consequently, it kind of went sideways at the end."