Tiger Woods still a major threat, say Calcavecchia and Janzen after former world number one’s return at Hero World Challenge

Woods swung freely and with no sign of back pain at the Hero World Challenge, finishing tied for ninth in the 18-man exhibition which featured eight of the world’s top 10 golfers.

Mark Calcavecchia saw enough to know it would be foolish to write off the former world number one.

“His name is Tiger Woods after all. You don’t just forget that he has won 14 majors and 79 (PGA Tour) tournaments,” the former British Open winner said.

“I watched most of last week and I was very impressed with a lot of things. He’s going at it full speed, he’s certainly not holding back trying to protect what we all thought was still going to be a tender back.”

Following spinal fusion surgery and a lengthy lay-off, Woods arrived at the Bahamas event ranked 1,199th but after posting a 31 on his opening nine holes, his odds to win the US Masters in April dropped to 15-1, according to one Las Vegas bookmaker.