Tiger Woods and Fans Should Be Optimistic About Return Despite Finishing Last

According to the scoreboard, this was a week for Tiger Woods to forget. At even par, he finished tied for last in the 18-man field at the Hero World Challenge on Sunday, a full 26 strokes behind the champion, 21-year-old Jordan Spieth. It wasn't one for the highlight reel. 

However, it's far from all doom and gloom. A closer look at his four rounds at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club will give Tiger and his many fans plenty of reasons to look forward to 2015.

His reinvented stroke looks loose and powerful. He made it through four rounds of golf without any back troubles at all. And, perhaps most importantly, he looked like he enjoyed playing the game that made him a superstar.

Despite his disastrous short game and his eyesore of a first-round 77, there were reasons to cheer.

Nobody knew what to expect from Tiger coming into this week. After all, nobody had seen the 14-time major champion play golf since he missed the cut at the PGA Championship back at the beginning of August to finish the worst season in his pro career.

Woods had back surgery in March of this year, causing him to miss the Masters for the first time since 1994. He returned to the tour over the summer, but by all accounts it was too soon—he missed the cut at the Quicken Loans National in June and finished 69th at the British Open.

Once he hung up his clubs for the 2014 season to properly heal his back, Tiger continued to make headlines by parting ways with his swing coach of four years, Sean Foley, and hiring the relatively unorthodox Chris Como last month.

Karen Crouse of The New York Times talked about how Como and Woods—two seemingly opposites—have come together to retool Tiger's swing: 

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Woods said: “I had this plan in my head of where I wanted to go and what I want my swing to look like and what I want to get out of my body and out of my game. I just needed to align myself with a person that felt the same way. Chris fits that for sure.”

They have watched VHS tapes of Woods from his teenage years and his early years as a professional. His swing then was more upright, more fluid. Whether it is that his back finally is healthy, or that he has Como at his side, or a combination of both, Woods’s swing in the past week has been like the new old Tiger.

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As Crouse mentioned, Tiger's swing this week did resemble the one he had when he first took the golfing world by storm. It looked more natural, and he was clearly more comfortable with it—the motion was more about feel and less about mechanics, an observation shared by GC Tiger Tracker:

That motion and comfort were consistent throughout the week, even as he fought through understandable rust and a bad flu-like virus that saw him playing with a high fever and nausea so bad that he threw up on the course.

But there was no give-up or self-pity in Tiger's demeanor. Sure, a lot of that had to do with the fact that his foundation was hosting the event, but it also seemed like he was thoroughly enjoying having a chance to be out there and compete, duffed chips and all. 

In the NBC booth after his round, Woods was as cheerful and relaxed as I've ever seen him. He laughed about the troubles in his short game and thoroughly praised Spieth. He also beamed with pride as the announcers mentioned his girlfriend Lindsey Vonn's great weekend on the slopes and the fact that his niece Cheyenne Woods just won her LPGA tour card.

It was a nice glimpse into how far Tiger has come off the course, too. Throughout the obstacles he's faced recently, he's become something more than a golfing and sponsorship machine. He seems like a happy, well-rounded person. 

Of course, Woods wasn't happy that he finished dead last. He's far too competitive for that. But he was clearly thrilled to have a healthy back and improved swing. He knows the changes in his game won't happen overnight, but he's got the maturity and patience to deal with that. 

Willie J. Allen/Associated Press

"Yeah, the good news is I understand the process," he told reporters, via ASAP Sports. "I've made changes before in my game and it takes time."

Woods isn't delusional. He knows he's older now and that he's never going to dominate the way he once did. Even if his new swing turns into a best-case scenario, he's still not going to be able to hit the ball as long as the Bubba Watsons or Rory McIlroys of the world. 

But let's not forget that, although it's been six years—2008 to be specific—since Tiger won a major, it was just last year that he won five events, including the Players Championship, and was the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world. And he did a lot of that with a bad back.

Now he's healthy, he's getting back to the golfing basics that made him one of the best ever and he seems to be in a positive headspace. If that's not a reason for Tiger and his fans to be optimistic about the future, I don't know what is.