ORLANDO, Fla. — The pronouncement pierced the silence as soon as Tiger Woods made an 11-foot par putt to secure his third sub-70 in his last four rounds, a four-under-par 68 at Bay Hill on Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “Tiger Woods — back!” came the cry from a fan near the ninth green.

Woods, fresh off a tie for second at the Valspar Championship, was making his first start in this tournament since he won for the eighth time here in 2013. His 68 on Thursday left him tied for seventh, four shots behind the leader, Henrik Stenson.

At this time last year, “Woods — back” was shorthand for a different narrative. He was a little more than a month away from having lower lumbar fusion surgery, which he starkly described last week as “the only option” he had left, a “last-case resort” that would leave him in “uncharted territory.”

When the PGA Tour’s wraparound season began anew in October, Woods had not been cleared by his doctors to take full shots with all the clubs in his bag. He was not certain he would compete again, much less contend.