More Positive Signs For 'Rusty' Woods At Hero World Challenge But Scheffler And Spieth Take Charge

WOODS PIPES IT OFF THE 1st

Woods is off and running with a 290 yarder down the middle of the first to leave him 138 in.

His wedge settles within 6ft and we've got an opening birdie putt coming up!

WOODS IN GREEN TODAY

BIRDIE AT THE 1st!

Woods converts from 6ft and he's under par straight away. Back to +2 for the tournament.

WOODS' APPROACH TO THE 1st

WHAT A START!

From 178 yards on the par 3 2nd hole he's stuffed it to within 5ft.

Could be a birdie-birdie start here.

WOODS' BIRDIE PUTT ON 1

BIRDIE-BIRDIE

What a start from Tiger! He's two-under after two holes and back to +1.

Great start from TW

Can Tiger capitalise on his fast start with another birdie (or better) on the par-5 3rd?He has 220 yards to go for his second. 

JUST A PAR... 

A missed 10-footer for birdie on the par-5 3rd there. Don't worry, we're not about to start with all the, 'In his prime, he'd have sunk that' stuff....However, in his prime he never missed a putt. Not one. 

ON THE MOVE

Justin Rose (-2 through 2, -2 overall); Rickie Fowler (-3 through 3, -1 overall). And good to see another comeback man Will Zalatoris start well (-2 through 4, +7 overall). Leaders at -5. 

LEFT FAIRWAY AT 4

287 yards to the left fairway, leaves a long one into the 4th, some 196 yards. 

TIGER ROLLING THE ROCK

Admit it, you never thought yo'd see this again...

HOW TO WATCH THE HERO WORLD CHALLENGE 

In case you're wondering when you can tune in to watch Tiger & co in the Bahamas, here's how to watch the Hero World Challenge. 

SAFELY ABOARD ON 4

Tough hole is 4, but TW is safely aboard the green facing a 23-footer for birdie. 

POSITIVE SIGNS FOR ZALATORIS FANS

We've waited a long time to see young William Zalatoris back in action. After a tough time yesterday, he's come out firing. He's now -3 through 5 and back to +6. 

looks good, right?

TW PAR AT 5

A tidy enough two-putt par at 5 for Woods. He remains -2 and +1 overall. He's playing with Rickie Fowler today who is also going along nicely. Hopefully these two quality ball strikers can feed off one another and climb that leaderboard.

BIG DRIVE ON PAR-5 6TH

Plenty of good signs early on in the second round for Woods, who has just sent another drive down the fairway - this one measuring 307 yards, which leaves him about 280 to go. 

UP-AND-DOWN FOR BIRDIE?

Tiger Woods finds the sand, which is easy to do here in The Bahamas, and has one of those lengthy bunker shots for his third - the type amateurs call hard but pros make look easy. Let's see what Tiger has for us...

TIGER WITH 5FT FOR BIRDIE...

It was a wonderful third shot from the bunker. He needed that to build on that fast start. Woods is now back to even par for the tournament. Nicely done. Exactly how he would have hoped to start the day. 

Elsewhere...

Because there are, you know, a few other decent players here. Justin Thomas has started beautifully (-4) with two birdies in his first two holes. Matt Fitzpatrick moves to within two of the lead, with a birdie on the 2nd. Leaders at -5. Not long now until everyone is out on the course. 

GREENSIDE BUNKER

TW has a slash at that one and finds the front left greenside bunker, some 55ft from the hole. Something similar to the last hole required for birdie...

TIGER ON HIS BIKE

A lot of talk about Tiger Woods and all his injuries lately, but he looked to be in no trouble at all as he arrived on his motorbike earlier with his bag across his back. 

WE'RE UNDER PAR

What a second shot that was. Something tells me Tiger's been hitting balls in his backyard. Another peach of a long bunker shot sets up a birdie putt from 4ft - which he sinks. We're under par, -4 for the day through 7 and -1 overall. Old Tiger stats. 

TROUBLE ON 8

Work to do for Woods on the par-3 8th - 8 foot for par. The word 'momentum' comes to mind. 

LIVE COVERAGE

You can watch Tiger Woods' comeback at the Hero World Challenge. We have five players in the lead at -5. 

GREAT SAVE

Tiger Woods rolls in an 8-footer for par on 8 - right in the center. He's four shots back. There are going to be some low ones out there today. Five par 5s on the course, drivable par 4s. Just depends on the wind as to how low these 20 players can go. A day when bogeys will feel like doubles.

GREAT DRIVE ON 9

A low one from Tiger Woods on the 9th, just the 347 yards. He'll be eyeing up another birdie here. The question is, will fatigue play any part today? He looks to be moving nice and freely at present. 

FINAU TO -6

New leader, it's Big Tone. The laid back American gets to -6 with a birdie on the 1st. 

WOODS IN GOOD SHAPE

The good run could continue courtesy of two very good shots into the par-5 9th. He's just through the green with room to work with. Lovely low cut there to chase it up, just runs through. 

A rare blemish

Comes out softly, no tap-in birdie as expected. We'll have some work to do....

HOT TO RETAKE THE LEAD

By Tony Finau...

TIGER OUT IN 32 (-4)

Tiger rams in the par putt after running his birdie effort 3 feet by. He was odds on for another birdie there, but that's still a very tidy outward nice for the 15-time Major champion. 

trouble on 10 for tiger 

A tough tee shot back into the breeze and Tiger looks to be in a bit of trouble, maybe the lip of the bunker. Not an easy hole, just fails to carry that trap and it could lead to his first bogey of the day. We shall see...

good break on 10

Not the best of stances, but Tiger has somehow not rolled into the fairway trap on 10. Three-quarter swing and he finds the front of the green. Nicely done. Outside chance of a birdie. 

TROUBLE FOR FINAU

Our leader lost his tee shot on the 3rd, and we're going to see some changes at the top of the leaderboard. He's now played four and he's not on the green. Fitzpatrick will probably have a chance to lead with a nice approach on 6. 

TIGER WALKING WELL

The best news is that Tiger Woods is walking with more of a spring in his step, no hobbling at this stage. Good speed with his lag putt on 10. That will be a par. 

DOUBLE FOR FINAU

Now Tony Finau is a pretty laid back guy, but the blood pressure will surely have gone up after that mess on the 3rd. He was leading at -6, but he's just made a seven there, a good seven at that. All came after losing his opening shot. Makes a 15-footer for double. Hats off. Gritty. 

FAIRWAY ON 11 FOR TW

Another great swing on 11 and Woods continues to impress. The tempo looks fantastic. He's flushing it.

JASON DAY ON THE MOVE

Four birdies in a row for the Aussie, and he's just one shot back. Nice to see Day rolling the ball sweetly on the green. The former world number one in decent shape at -5. 

WOODS SHORT ON 11

Maybe a bit of wind trouble there, but Woods is facing a tricky little up-and-down on the 11th. We say tricky, but Woods will probably fancy it. 

STRIPE SHOW 

The story of the day so far: Tiger Woods striping it. 

NICE SAVE

Paul McGinley likes that one. A bladey type of chip from Woods, who gets it up-and-down for par on 11. Opts not to go the aerial route. Top marks for creativity. We don't see enough of that in the modern game, but that's a topic for another day. 

TIGER FINDS GREEN ON 12

Par-3 12th. Looks a peach of a hole, albeit a dangerous one. Woods flushes that, keeping it down underneath the wind, whilst Matt Fitzpatrick misses a good opportunity to take the solo lead on 7. Another big positive for Woods who doesn't seem to have lost his ability to see the shot he needs. He's executing them, too. 

SWEARY SPIETH 

Very high standards. Spieth is not happy with that one on 6. Blame the caddie, who's new. His normal looper is having a well-deserved week off. 

FITZ TO -7

England's Matt Fitzpatrick looking ominous with that flat stick, rolls in another one to take the solo lead - he's -5 through 8 and -7 overall. 

THOMAS JOINS FITZ AT TOP

That kind of day, lots of changes. JT is looking very good right now. Meanwhile, Woods drops his first shot of the day at 13, back to even par with a missed three-footer there. That'll wind him up. 

WOODS NOW 7 BACK

Despite the promising signs - and they are very promising - Woods is a distant seven back right now. Needs a strong final five holes. Drivable 14th next up... leaves it down in the dip, so he's going to need his best touch to get that up-and-down, playing up a steep bank. Not beyond his capabilities, by any means. 

DELICATE FROM WOODS

Back to 14 and Woods nips one off cleanly to set up a birdie chance, about 8 feet or so. He could do with sinking that one for an immediate bounce-back following the sloppy bogey on 13. 

BIRDIE FOR WOODS

Pulls it. Back-to-back holes where Woods has failed to convert inside 10 feet. Not unexpected. Would be a shame if he can't finish off what has been a good round so far. A few signs of rust on the greens in the last 20 minutes. 

SCRAPPY FROM WOODS 

Woods in a bit of danger of letting today's good work slip away. A loose shot there on the par-5 15th into the sand. Still a chance he can get that up and down for his birdie, which would bring a smile back to his face. 

OH DEAR! 

Is that rust? Not so sure. Makes a mess of his bunker shot and then putts into the bunker.... not a good number coming here on what is a very scoreable part of the course. 

GOOD BOGEY?

Woods limits the damage to a bogey with a gritty 15 footer for a 6. Scratching my head. When did Tiger last putt into a bunker? 

CHANGES AT THE TOP

Spieth leads. Remember him? Decent player. He's -3 for the day and -7 overall. Thomas is back to -6 after a rollercoaster on the 11th. 

TIGER SLIPPING

Not literally, but he's throwing shots away here a bit like yesterday. Back-to-back bogeys. He's now on the 17th green. And sinks a bomb! Back to +1. 

ZALATORIS WITH A NEW PUTTER

Misses a putt for a 67 a day after he shot 81. A 13-shot turnaround for the man making his comeback. That looked a lot better. Fingers crossed the American enjoys a healthy 2024. If he does, he's going to win things, that's for sure. Still not sure about that putting technique, but who am I to criticise someone who has finished runner-up in three of the four Major Championships. 

TIGER WITH POOR FINAL APPROACH

From the first cut. 172 yards. Hand off the club and he just manages to avoid bouncing into the water. Wasn't the best of lies, not easy to control from there. Needs to get up and down for par, and I've got a feeling he's going to treat us to one final good chip of the day. 

BEAUTY FROM TIGER

The short game looks good, as does the long game. That's an excellent chip and he taps in for a 70. Just those uncharacteristic mistakes. 

TIGER CARDS 70

It promised to be so much better at one stage, but just a 70. A lot of good shots in there, but some uncharacteristic mistakes, too. You have to expect that after seven months out. This is also just his eight tournament since he was involved in that awful car crash in February 2021. 

"I'M RUSTY"

Well, yeah. Asked the question as to why he seemed to be struggling to close out rounds, Woods responds: "Maybe because i haven't played in a while." You tell 'em, Tiger. 

TIDY SHORT-GAME SKILLS

Matt Fitzpatrick showing off and making himself unpopular with the greenkeepers. 

THREE AT THE TOP

Matt Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth now share the lead at -7. I fancy -10 might be leading this by the end of the day. 

MAKE THAT 4

Thomas, Fitz, Scottie and Spieth are having some kind of shootout here. All well into the back nine. -7 leads.

THE CREAM HAS RISEN TO THE TOP

Scheffler gets it to -8 through 14. Fitzpatrick almost jumps past him with a 360-degree lip out. Still, he's -6 for his round and he shares the lead with the American. 

BUNKER TROUBLE FOR JT

What a horrid lie. JT buried greenside on 16 but plays a fantastic shot, chopping down and popping it out to about 5 feet. Very good. Cleans up to stay at -7. 

ACE ALERT

Glover with an ace on 17. The former US Open champion has a one and an eight on his card. Can't imagine how much a round of beers at this place costs, but I'm sure he can afford it. 

DOUBLE FOR FITZPATRICK 

Didn't see that one coming. Tee shot into the scrub to blame and the Englishman drops back to -6. Scheffler, meanwhile, gets it to -9 and he still has three holes to play. No one will want to see Scottie heading into the weekend with shots to play with. Sound the Scottie Scheffler alarm. When he's hot, he's hot. He might be extending that lead soon. 

SPIETH TO -9

Scheffler and Spieth lead at -9, the latter seeing his fourth eagle attempt of the day coming up inches short. 

HERE'S THAT ACE 

I like to think Lucas Glover will be receiving a huge bar bill for this effort, so big it wipes out most of his obscene earnings in 2023. 

SCOTTIE BEING SCOTTIE

-10. -7 for the day, this is more the Scottie we've been used to seeing over the last couple of years. Is that work he's doing with putting coach Phil Kenyon paying off already? 

LAST TEE SHOT FOR THE LEADER

Scheffler finds the sandy area down the 18th, but it might have bounced out of it. The world number one would take a par here, then he can put his feet up and buy Phil Kenyon a drink. It's an early call, but I'm saying Scheffler wins at least two Majors next year - not the Masters, Tiger wins that by seven. 

TROUBLE FOR SCOTTIE ON 18

Greenside bunker on 18. He's facing water, too, which pros don't seem to get too fazed by. Lie isn't great. How's your feel, Scottie? 8/10. Lovely splash shot, but he still has about 6-8 feet for par on 18. On 17, Spieth grazes the edge of the hole, good chance gone there after a beautiful tee shot. 

DAY 2 COMING TO AN END 

The second round is coming to a conclusion. Scheffler shoots a 66, with his par effort on 18 missing right. Meanwhile, Cameron Young with the drive of the day, using the TV tent/tower/building/thing to good effect. It's a fairway found on 18, when it was really 30 yards wide. At least. 

SPIETH FOR THE OUTRIGHT...

How has that not dropped? A 67 for Spieth. That was clinical from the three-time Major champion today. 

SCHEFFLER ON HIS PUTTING

"I have much more of a clearer picture." That could spell trouble for his rivals in 2024.

HARMAN IN THE MIX

The final few words of the day for The Open champion, Brian Harman. He's just one shot back after playing the last five holes in five under. Join us again tomorrow for what promises to be a fantastic weekend in The Bahamas.