It is fair to say that Tiger Woods surpassed expectations at the Hero World Challenge. In the end, he finished in a tie for 9^th place after rounds of 69, 68, 75 and 68 for an eight-under-par total in Bahamas.

To put that into perspective, those who finished worse than him over the four days included the last three major champions. This was after almost a year of no competitive golf.

Tiger passed the first major test this week, he did not see a reoccurrence of back problems. Interviewed after his final round, he said he felt “no pain”, which is positive considering that in September he said that he was unsure whether he would be back playing golf again.

One of the surprises of the week was that the intensity in the 14-time major champion’s swing was back, and Tiger showed no ill-effects of his injuries over the four days. There were some fantastic shots, the pick of which was a 271-yard 3-wood on Friday that left him with 20 feet for eagle, which he holed for sole possession of the lead.

That was to be the peak of Tiger-mania over the weekend and his chances of winning the tournament faded with a 75 on Saturday. Nevertheless, he continued to impress on Sunday with his athleticism, including one rip-roaring 2-iron over the green on the 3^rd hole from 277 yards out which flew over the green.

Woods’ driving was excellent all week, albeit on a wide open course, but that will be his main takeaway from the week. Woods drove it regularly over 300 yards, and like the good old days, was rock solid on the greens. He called his irons scratchy and some of his chipping led to calls of ‘chipping yips’ but chipping against the grain proved difficult for a number of players.

Most of all, it was great to see Tiger Woods back in action, and that was reflected by the buzz that his return created. Seldom will there be more people watching golf in December than this weekend.

The outstanding performance of Rickie Fowler on Sunday, an 11-under-par 61 that began with seven straight birdies, may have been inspired by a feeling to show Tiger who was boss. If Tiger continues his improvement into 2018, playing against the young guns could lead to some unforgettable finales next year. We can’t wait.