Tiger Woods' return: By the numbers

Once the number one golfer in the world, Tiger Woods has been beset by personal drama and professional issues since his life imploded in late 2009, following a flurry of revelations of his scandalous extramarital affairs. After a self-imposed exile, Woods returned to the PGA tour at the 2010 Masters, and proceeded to struggle on golf course after golf course. The tarnished golden boy, plagued by injuries, hasn't won a tournament in almost two years. On Thursday, Woods teed off at the W.G.C.-Bridgestone Invitational, his first tournament since a three-month layoff due to knee and Achilles tendon injuries. Can Tiger finally get his career back on track? Here, a brief guide, by the numbers, to his return:

628

Number of days since Tiger Woods has won a golf tournament. "We're not talking about major golf tournaments, either, the events like the Masters and the U.S. Open that define a player's career," says Steve Politi at CNN. "We're talking about any golf tournament, be it a run-of-the-mill PGA Tour event or, as far as we know, even a country-club scramble."

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71

Number of PGA Tour victories Woods has under his belt, the third most of any golfer in history

14

Number of major tournaments that he has won

18

Record number of majors won, a mark held by Jack Nicklaus. Wood was once viewed as a near-certain lock to surpass Nicklaus.

28th

Woods' current world ranking

26

Number of slots he has fallen in those rankings since January

12

Number of weeks Woods has been out due to knee and Achilles injuries

$5 million

Average amount of money on the line every week of the PGA tour

4

Number of knee surgeries Woods has had. "His body has gone under the knife so often... that his medical history more closely resembles an NFL linebacker than a professional golfer," says Politi.

35

Woods' age. He's "still in a golfer's prime, but his body hasn't been right in a long time," says Politi.

3

Number of players in golf history who have won more than five majors — what Woods would need to do surpass Nicklaus — after turning 35. They include Nicklaus himself, Ben Hogan, and Sam Snead.

13

Number of years Woods had worked with his longtime caddie Steve Williams before Woods fired him earlier this summer

6

Number of years Woods was married to model Elin Nordegren before news of his numerous affairs led to their divorce, which was finalized in August of 2010

68

What Woods shot in the first round of the Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday. That's an "impressive 2-under-par," says Mark Cannizzaro in the New York Post. But, it's still too early "to deem Tiger Woods as 'back.'"

71

What Woods shot in the second round on Friday. His "hopes of a dramatic comeback victory were seriously damaged," says ESPN. He's currently one under par.

8

Number of strokes under par that the two current leaders in the tournament, Ryan Moore and Adam Scott, are. Scott just happens to be working with Woods' former caddie, Steve Williams. That must make his position at the top of the leaderboard "particularly galling for Woods," says ESPN.

7

Number of times Woods has won this tournament in the past

Sources: CNN, ESPN, New York Times, People