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That’s it: Tiger Woods’ long-awaited comeback round is in the books – and a quietly impressive one it was at that.

The 14-time major champion shot a three-under-par 69 in the first round of the Hero World Challenge and, perhaps more importantly, showed no sign of injury or fatigue as he eased his way back into action.

That round has him sitting inside the top ten in the 18-man field – yes, there are other players teeing it up in the Bahamas – and here are four things we noted from Woods’ comeback round.

1. Promising signs off the tee 

With the exception of the par-5 15th hole, where he pushed it way right resulting in one of two bogeys, it was a promising display off the tee for Woods. 

Particularly impressive was his ball speed, which was frequently up around 180mph – among the top 20 on the PGA Tour for the 2017 season. “My fear was that his ball speed wouldn’t be up there,” said Denis Pugh in the Sky Sports studio. “If it isn’t up there, you can’t compete.”

Thankfully for Woods though, it was, as he regularly outdrove playing partner Justin Thomas with his drive on the short par-4 seventh receiving particular attention:

Tiger Woods3

2. ..and also with the putter

Woods didn’t show too much rustiness with the short stick either and looked especially impressive from the 15ft-20ft mark, contributing to his birdies on the eighth, tenth and 13th holes.

In total, he had just 27 putts. That would have him fourth in the Putts Per Round stat on the PGA Tour for 2018.

3. Chipping question marks remain

If there was anything to criticise Woods for in his comeback round, it was his chipping.

He made terrible contact with the ball on both the fourth and ninth holes – forcing an impeccable 15ft par save on the fourth hole but a bogey on the ninth.

4. But no one moves the needle like Tiger

While fans were understandably waxing lyrical about Woods’ comeback, do you think we’d see tour pros tweet like this about another fellow pro who wasn’t Tiger? Not a chance.

Here are some of the best tweets about his comeback:

Oh, and a couple of other sporting legends made sure they tuned in too…

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