There were so many stories to come out of the weekend’s Hero World Challenge, but there’s only one place we, as golf enthusiasts, can possibly start…Tiger Woods’ eagerly-awaited return.

The 14-time major champion was playing in his first PGA Tour event since the summer of 2015 and didn’t disappoint. Having undergone two back operations during his time on the sidelines, as well as a failed comeback just a few months ago, it was always going to be intriguing to see how golf’s biggest superstar fared in the Bahamas.

Arguably Tiger picked the perfect tournament to return – he hosts the event each year, was playing amongst friends and was guaranteed to play 72 competitive holes (as long as his back held out, which it did). On the other hand it was an 18-man field made up of the world’s best golfers – Stenson, Spieth, Dustin - so it wasn’t exactly ‘easy competition’.

Nevertheless Tiger caused a media frenzy with the vast majority of Sky’s coverage focused on Tiger during the four days – not surprising really given he was the guy everyone wanted to see. So how did he get on? Well, on the plus side he made 24 birdies over the four days which was the most in the field. Unfortunately for the American, he also carded the most double bogeys out of everyone - six to be exact.

So overall a pretty good week for Tiger, all things considered. But the real shining light was Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. If you read our weekly round-ups then you’ll be familiar with the 24-year-olds name from recent weeks. He’s been in phenomenal form of late and he carried this on, winning the Hero World Challenge by two shots from Henrik Stenson. That is four wins his last five starts, with his other result being a lousy runner-up finish. Not bad.

2017 is going to be a very interesting year.

What equipment did Matsuyama use?

• Driver – Callaway Great Big Bertha (9 degrees)
• Fairway wood – Callaway Big Bertha Fusion (15 degrees)
• Irons – TaylorMade M2 Tour (3-iron); Srixon Z945 (4-PW)
• Wedges – Cleveland Golf 588 RTX 2.0 (52, 56 and 60)
• Putter – Scotty Cameron
• Ball - Srixon Z-Star XV

The Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas pulled together eighteen of the world’s best golfers in the hope of producing some of the world’s best golf. As you well know, there was a special name amongst the field this week. Amongst the world’s best golfers was arguably the world’s greatest ever golfer. Tiger’s back with a brand new back.

Whilst we couldn’t ignore the headline act, there was still a golf tournament to be played. And what a golf tournament it was. Fresh off conquering the European Tour, Tommy Fleetwood wasted no time in upsetting the apple cart on the PGA Tour. The Englishman led the field after an opening round of six-under, ahead of Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar on five-under. Tiger Woods picked up a more-than-respectable three-under on the par 72 Albany golf course, New Providence.

Charley Hoffman’s nine-under 63 stole the show on day two, taking him to twelve-under for the tournament, whilst Brooks Koepka’s six-over 78 condemned him to the worst round of the star-studded tournament. Woods hit an eagle on the ninth on his way to a four-under, leaving him five strokes off leader Charley Hoffman heading into the weekend.

Extremely blustery conditions on Saturday prevented a single player breaking 70, including a collapse from Tiger Woods. Tiger was five-over after ten holes, before saving his blushes with a couple of birdies to finish on 75 for the day and four-under heading into the final round.

Despite five birdies and an eagle on the final day, a double bogey on the tenth and back-to-back bogeys to close saw Tiger finish the tournament on eight-under at T9. Not bad at all.

Fleetwood tied Spieth on -12 for a share of third; narrowly edging out Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Reed, who finish on -11. Hoffman’s 70-72 weekend would usually have ensured victory, especially given the lack of below-par scores on Saturday. But Rickie Fowler climbed four places on Sunday with a remarkable eleven-under for the day to beat his American counterpart by four strokes. Fowler finished on -18 for the tournament after seven straight birdies to open the final day, before a further four birdies saw him streak into the lead.

A promising return for Tiger, a course-record and tournament-record for Fowler and yet another great result for Tommy Fleetwood. But what was in the winner’s bag?

Rickie Fowler – What’s in the Bag?

Driver: Cobra King F8+

3 Wood: Cobra F8+

5 Wood: Cobra F8+ Baffler

Irons: Cobra King Forged MB (4-PW)

Wedges: Cobra King V-Grind

Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS Prototype

Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com