Tiger Woods is so happy after getting buried in own tourney

NASSAU, Bahamas — Thank goodness for Hideki ꦯMatsuyama, Tiger Woods is likely thinking, otherwise Woods would have🅷 finished DFL in his own tournament — Dead Freaking Last.

Woods finished 17th among the 18 players in the field, carding 1-under for the week after shooting 1-over 73 on Sunday. He finished 19 shots behind winner Jon Rahm, who 𒁏shot 20-under for the tournament. Matsuyama, who shot a 3-over 75 in the final round, finished the tournament at even par, one shot worse 🦩than Woods.

When it was over, though, Woods was far from disappointed, given how uncertain his future looked a year ago at this tournament. Woods, of course, went on to contend in most of the events he pl▨ayed, nearly winning the British Open and PGA Championship, and won his 80th career tournament in September, when he captured the Tour Championship.

So he walked away from this event, which he hosts with his foundation, thankful 🎶he can carry on with his career and♚ feeling much more bullish on his future than he did a year ago.

“This entire year has been amazing,” Woods said. “To come💜 from where I came from last year at this point to have the ability to actually play and compete again in the game and do it consistently is quite amazing.

“I know that I can win because obviously I just proved it. It’s just a matter of getting everything kind of peaking at the rig💮ht time. The will and the want and the desire hasn’t changed. It’s just a matter of is the body willing to do it.

“There are days or weeks that they don’t cooperate, so that’s just part of the injuries I’ve gone through and aging. The older athletes just don’t perform as consistently as they once did. I’ve been out here for 20-some-odd years.”

Asked if it took winning again to prove to himself that he could still win, even though he’d done it 79 times before, Woods said: “Nౠo. Once I put myself in position to win at Tampa [where I finished second] four tournaments into [this comeback], I knew I could win. Now [it was], could I play consistently week in, week out? That’s a totally different matter.”

Woods said🐲 after playing the Hero World Championship last year, his first question was whether he could “actually play a full tournament. Then, can ꦿI make it through the West Coast?”

“This entire year has been evolving and it’s 🥃been fluid,” he said. “I’m just now getting used to competing again. So I know that I can do it and I know that I can win, so that part of it is exciting.”

Woods, who has hinted at altering 𝓀his usuꦡal playing schedule, is believed to be considering playing in the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, where 2018 tournament winners qualify.

But on Sunday, he was noncommittal.

“We haven’t sat down and actually confirmed anything in my schedule for next year,” he said. “I’m not 🅠going💖 to play as many [tournaments] as I did this year. I played in too many this year.”