Roundup: Tiger's Bogey-Free, Pain-Free 65

If you were watching today's Morning Drive you saw all of Tiger's pre-Hero Challenge second round warmup. Now, that might seem like overkill but a student of the game would have quickly realized they were seeing something fascinating.

The contrast with his day one warm-up was striking. Friday, Woods was joking, smiling, twirling and warming up like someone who has won five World Challenges merely enjoying a relaxed silly-season day. Yesterday, his first-round preparation mirrored his pre-major championship round routine: precise number of shots, specific order of pre-round practice and not much banter. Few other players were chatting it up with him, but they sure were keeping an eye on him.

The contrast in moods spoke to the enormous and understandable burden carried by Woods. Whether the joviality would translate in round two remained an open question.

But a workmanlike bogey-free 65 not only proved Woods once again has the fire to compete, but it also raised the golf writing bar amongst those on site.

Steve DiMeglio nailed his USA Today lede:

NASSAU, Bahamas — Well, he is Tiger Woods.

Doug Ferguson's AP story seized on a wacky, Seve-esque 16th hole par, one we will always remember because of the surreal reaction in front of no playing partner (due to a Justin Rose WD) and almost no crowd (due to the tournament location).

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Tiger Woods saved par from the dunes with a shot so good that two spectators ran over and scooped up sand for a souvenir.

It also served as motivation Friday at the Hero World Challenge. The tee shot on the par-3 eighth that landed next to a bush was so bad that Woods said he told caddie Joe LaCava after his par putt, "I'm not dropping a shot."

And he didn't.

Golfweek's Jeff Babineau got right to the point:

NEW PROVIDENCE, Bahamas – Well, that was a little better, don’t you think? Tiger Woods, on Day 2 of the great comeback trail, showed us what we’ve been missing since, oh, maybe 2013, when he won his last five PGA Tour titles.

Jason Sobel worked his way into his ESPN.com story of Tiger's great day more deliberately, trying to pinpoint the key moment that signaled signs of the old cat's presence.

No, the moment he truly started evoking memories of the guy who's won 14 major championships occurred on the next tee, the par-3 eighth, when his impact through the ball was immediately followed by one of his first audible exhortations during the round.

"One yard!" he shouted, a command he often gave when he was hitting his best shots.

The ball listened, nestling just a few feet from the hole en route to a fourth birdie and a share of the lead.

Karen Crouse focuses her New York Times story on caddie Joe LaCava, who has stayed on the sidelines and out of the limelight while Woods prepared to come back.

His joints were stiff and his muscles were sore after two rounds of carrying Tiger Woods’s bag at the Hero World Challenge. But, he said, “I’m lucky to feel it.”

For 466 days, Woods’s back operations left LaCava in loopers’ limbo. He was neither employed nor unemployed. His financial arrangement with Woods, for whom he has worked since the end of 2011, freed him from having to seek temporary employment.

“He’s taken good care of me since the first day I’ve worked for him,” said LaCava, who politely declined to divulge any specifics.

Bob Harig wonders if Tiger's new non-free safety physique has led to more flexibility, better tempo and a better golf body.

Woods has also apparently learned to stay off the heavy weights. He said his weight is less than 180 after a recent illness, though he looks leaner through his upper body as well.

Perhaps that has allowed him to swing more freely. Woods has mostly seemed under control here, without the violent swings that sometimes would creep into his game in recent years. No matter his weight, Woods has always been able to hit the ball plenty far, and that might be among the most encouraging things he's showed this week. His power is back.

"I can't do what I used to do -- weights, running,'' he said. "My first probably five, six years on tour, I ran 30 miles a week. I would run five, six miles almost every day, at least four. Before a round, after a round, it didn't matter. There's no way in hell I'm doing that now. That's just aging. That's just having four knee surgeries, three backs. My body's been through it.''

Woods made one positively jaw-dropping admission following his round. Mark Cannizzaro reports for the New York Post.

Asked when he went back to using the Scotty Cameron, Woods said, “The day that we were no longer a part of the hard goods side,’’ referring to his main sponsor, Nike, getting out of the club and ball business.

The putt and great reaction: