Tiger Woods Thrills Golf Fans with Strong Round 2 at 2023 Hero World Challenge

Tiger Woods took a step in the right direction in the second round of the Hero World Challenge on Friday in the Bahamas.

The 15-time major champion remains one over par for the tournament but carded a two-under 70.

Woods didn't waste any time after returning to the course, birdieing his first two holes. Back-to-back birdies followed on Nos. 6 and 7.

For the second day in a row, though, Woods' performance fell off a bit after he made the turn. He bogeyed the 13th before losing two more strokes on Nos. 15 and 16. A 29-foot putt on No. 17 earned him a birdie, though, and allowed him to end the round on a bit of a high.

The Hero World Challenge doesn't pare down its field of 20 golfers at the halfway point, so there was no danger of Woods missing the cut.

Given his long layoff, simply making it through all four days regardless of where he finishes on the leaderboard should be considered a bit of an accomplishment. He hasn't completed a 72-hole event since the Genesis Invitational this past February.

To that end, fans have been encouraged by what they've seen from Tiger in the Bahamas:

"I cleaned it up a little bit from yesterday, for sure," Woods said of his play, per Golfweek's Cameron Jourdan. "I wish I would've made a couple more putts to keep the round going."

The 47-year-old now awaits the conclusion of Friday's play to see when he'll tee off for Round 3. Since he's shaking off the rust a bit, he'll hope to have a more balanced round from start to finish.