Tiger Woods makes his eagerly anticipated comeback this week at the Hero World Challenge and it appears he'll be doing so with a new driver.
Woods spoke to the media on Tuesday morning before heading out to the course at Albany in The Bahamas, where he was pictured with the new TaylorMade Qi10 LS driver - the same model used by both Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood at the DP World Tour Championship earlier in the month.
Not much is known about the driver just yet, other than details recorded on the USGA's List of Conforming Driver Heads. It has a carbon face, like the TaylorMade Stealth and Stealth 2 drivers, as well as a speed pocket and a sliding fade/draw weight to adjust shot shape.
Woods looks to have his Qi10 LS set up in the fade position, and he has also turned up this week with a new driver shaft. The 15-time Major winner previously had the Ventus Black 6 X model in his Stealth Plus driver but has switched into a Graphite Design Tour AD-VF shaft this week.
Other TaylorMade pros in the stacked 20-man Hero World Challenge field include World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa, who may also have a new TaylorMade driver in the bag this week.
That's because a TaylorMade Qi10 appeared on the USGA Conforming List earlier this week. It looks similar to the LS (low spin, we assume) version but doesn't feature the fade/draw weight port and is listed in 9 and 10.5 degree versions versus the 8, 9 and 10.5 ones of the Qi10 LS.
Woods makes his first start since April this week, after limping out of The Masters prior to the final day's action. He underwent a subtalar fusion surgery following his Augusta withdrawal, which he called a "success".
"I'm not concerned at all about walking [it]. As I said, I don't have any of the ankle pain that I had with the hardware that's been placed in my foot, that's all gone," he said.
"The other parts of my body, my knee hurts, my back. The forces go somewhere else. Just like when I had my back fused, the forces have to go somewhere. So it's up the chain.
"My game feels rusty, I haven't played in a while. I'm excited to compete and play, and I'm just as curious as all of you are to see what happens because I haven't done it in a while."
While admitting he has pain in other areas now, he did reveal that he hopes to play a tournament a month next year.
Woods goes out at 11.52am ET on Thursday morning alongside close friend Justin Thomas.
