Tiger Woods set to surge in Official World Golf Rankings

Tiger may be outside the top 1,000 in the world rankings but would vault inside the top 150 with a win on Sunday at the Hero World Challenge. And guess what? The former world No. 1 is very much in contention.

Tiger Woods has 36 holes to go in his first tournament since February but should he find himself at the top of the Hero World Challenge leaderboard come Sunday evening the former world No. 1 would charge up the official world golf rankings into the top 150.

Even a last-place finish in the 18-player, no-cut event would mean a 250-place improvement in his status — to somewhere around 950.

Not bad for a guy who entered the week at No. 1,199 and with a slew of questions about whether he could play 72 holes — or even 18 — without grimacing, never mind contend. But there he is, 7-under and five shots back of leader Charley Hoffman after two rounds of his first competitive golf since February and in definite contention for his first worldwide victory since 2013.

Woods got off to sizzling start on Thursday, with an opening-round 3-under 69 and followed that up on Friday by going out in 5-under 31 with three birdies and an eagle — good enough to get him the top spot for a bit.

Just one birdie and two bogeys on the back nine, including one at No. 18, slowed Tiger’s roll but did nothing to dim the enthusiasm of Woods watchers.

Woods, despite a flip response about whether he can win the Hero, sought, as he did before the tourney, to dampen expectations.

“I proved that the surgery was successful, the rehab has been fantastic and now I’ve got a chance to go out there and play competitive golf again,” Woods told Golf Channel after bettering second-round playing partner Henrik Stenson by three strokes. “I’m just getting back so I still have a long way to go. That’s going to take time, a lot more practice, a lot more training, and more tournaments.”

In the meantime, here are the potential OWGR scenarios for Woods this week: