A group of amateurs stood around Albany Golf Club’s putting green, readying themselves for the annual Tuesday pro-am at the Hero World Challenge in The Bahamas. A mostly exclusive affair, only a few souls roamed the grounds as the amateurs took their final practice strokes, but one man’s presence was hard to ignore.

Ten yards off the green, sitting with a slight droop and sunglasses on, Tiger Woods sprawled comfortably across his golf cart. He smiled and laughed as he chatted with a few close confidants and surveyed the scene in front of him. By now, the amateurs had taken notice, and although Woods was visibly loose and jovial, the putting green wasn’t. The slightly sagged shoulders tightened up, and the green was suddenly still as the collective tried their hardest not to think much about, or acknowledge, the audience that was now watching them.

An hour later, Woods had made his way to the back of the driving range to hold court. A group of special guests watched on in awe as the 82-time TOUR winner conducted a putting clinic – one of the lone things Woods can do with a golf club right now as he recovers from back surgery. He detailed the nitty-gritty tricks that made him the best putter in the world. They were simple, yet somehow revelatory, and the guests hung on every syllable.

In Woods’ peak inside the ropes, he invoked a similar feeling in his competitors – a dizzying sense of nervousness and wonderment that was a product of his prodigious talent and unrelenting intensity. If his play wasn’t enough to blow them away, the way he made his competitors feel was often just as effective. That version of Woods, 50 years old today, inside the ropes is largely gone. He will play again in the future, though how much and where remains to be seen. He could very well contend when he does, whether that’s at majors, TOUR events or on PGA TOUR Champions. Regardless of where he plays and for how long and what he looks like when he does, Woods will still be golf’s central force. It’s just no longer because of what scores he’s shooting.

Woods’ day on that Tuesday in the Bahamas began in the media center for what has become his annual State of the Union on everything about him and the PGA TOUR. He spoke about getting clearance to start chipping and putting and the unclear timeline for when he may return. Somehow, though, the news of Woods’ next comeback took a backseat. Instead, the presser was mostly focused on the future of the PGA TOUR and Woods’ role in shaping it. It was there that Woods said the product would be “far better than what we have now for everyone involved” because of the work of the Future Competitions Committee, which he is chairing. He noted they’ve torn down and looked at models that would reshape PGA TOUR competition and of the countless hours and meetings he’s held in his role on the FCC and the PGA TOUR Policy Board.

“It's daily,” Woods said. “It's a lot.”

Woods’ Tuesday ended with one of those meetings, speaking alongside CEO Brian Rolapp to the 20-man field in the Bahamas about the potential changes coming to the sport.

It begs the question: Why? Why does Woods care to be so involved when he could be doing literally anything else? He was asked just that, and produced a soliloquy that rivaled what he would say to those guests on the putting green later in the day.

“The PGA TOUR gave me an opportunity to chase after a childhood dream. I got a chance to hit my first ball in my first PGA TOUR event when I was 16 years old. I know that's what, 33 years ago, but I've been involved with the PGA TOUR ever since then,” Woods said.

“A little kid from Cypress, California, growing up on a par-3 course, got a chance to play against the best players in the world and make it to world No. 1. I got a chance to be involved in a lot of different things on our TOUR. This is a different opportunity to make an impact on the TOUR. I did it with my golf clubs, I made a few putts here and there and was able to do that. Now I am able to make an impact in a different way for other generations to come. Not just generations that I played against, but for future generations like a 16-year-old looking for a place to play and maybe in hopes of playing PGA TOUR.”

At 50 years old, this is Woods’ life now. This is where Woods is making his next impact. He changed the sport entirely with his play, vaulting the sport into a different stratosphere of popularity and almost single-handedly bringing purse money on par with other major sports. Without Woods, the TOUR is not what it is today. The TOUR also won’t be what it will be in one year, five years and 50 years without what Woods is doing now outside the ropes.

He’s doing it the same way, instilling wonderment and nervousness into those around him, a product of his prodigious talent and unrelenting intensity.

Happy 50th birthday, Tiger.