Tiger Woods has more back-9 issues, 10 back of Spieth, Scheffler - ESPN

NASSAU, Bahamas — Tiger Woods opened with four birdies in seven holes. The closing stretch was another struggle Friday in the Hero World Challenge, which included a putt that went off the green and into the bunker.

It added to a 2-under 70 that left Woods 10 shots behind Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth but still getting around just fine at Albany and slowly getting back into the groove.

But the back nine isn't helping. Woods shot 39 on the back in the opening round, and he shot 38 on Friday with a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th.

For Woods, there wasn't a great mystery why he wasn't finishing better.

«Maybe because I haven't played in a while,» he said with a laugh.

This is his first tournament since he withdrew before finishing his third round Sunday morning at the rain-delayed Masters, and he had ankle fusion surgery a few weeks later. Woods hasn't finished 72 holes since the 2022 Masters.

«I'm rusty,» he said. «This golf course will bring that out of you. You can run the tables here or go the other way. Unfortunately, I haven't finished off my rounds the way I'd like to.»

Scheffler had eight birdies on a day suited for good scoring. He lost the lead on No. 18 when he went from the rough to a waste area behind the hole, his ball in a slight depression. He did well to get it out to 15 feet but missed the par putt.

«As long as you can keep it out of trouble, you're going to play well,» Scheffler said.

Spieth had eagle putts on four holes — two of them par-4s — didn't miss a fairway and managed a relatively boring round, at least compared with Thursday when he made only five pars. This time he was bogey-free for a 67.

Scheffler and Spieth were at 9-under 135, one shot ahead of Open champion Brian Harman, who