Tiger Woods finished up his 2018 Honda Classic on Sunday with an even-par 70 in the final round. That followed a 70-71-69 start to the week for an even-par 280 showing over the four days. That's good enough for a 12th-place finish, which is the best Woods has placed at an event since the 2015 Wyndham Championship when he finished T10.

It could have been even better for Woods, who was thwarted by the Bear Trap (holes 15-17) at PGA National all week. After hitting it in the water at the par-3 15th on Sunday, Woods made double bogey and then bogey at the 16th to touch off a week in which he played those three holes four times to the tune of 8 over.

Still, the 14-time major winner sniffed the lead for much of the day on Sunday. He made birdies on three of his first eight holes and had the masses at PGA National feeling the impossible. The fade late was probably inevitable, but a 280 in this field under these conditions is a remarkable outcome given how he hit the ball at the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club last week (where he missed the cut).

Here are five thoughts on Woods' final round at the Honda Classic.

1. Let's talk about that driving distance: Care to guess who was second in the field in driving distance (319.1) and first in club head speed (128.4 mph) throughout the week? That's right, the man with four back surgeries, including a fusion of his spine just 10 months ago. Everyone, including Jack Nicklaus, was rightfully astonished at how far Woods hit the golf ball this week, and they were also impressed by how accurately he hit it.

2. Classic Cat: The round on Sunday, at least early on, was pure Tiger. He's never been a very accurate driver of the ball (something we probably don't talk about enough), but he's so creative and has such touch with his irons that it's never really mattered. He's also always been longer than everyone (which is apparently still the case). On Sunday, Woods had birdie looks of 9 feet (twice), 10 feet, 14 feet and 16 feet in his first 12 holes. And he wasn't exactly tearing it up off the tee. Tiger once again looks dangerous no matter how he's driving it, which will be a fascinating Augusta subplot.

3. Outstanding proximity to the hole: Woods finished first in the field in proximity to the hole at 29 feet, 3 inches on the week. This year's PGA Tour leader, Graham DeLaet, is averaging 29 feet, 5 inches. That stat, maybe more than anything else Woods did this week, stood out to me. If Woods can be that locked in three tournaments into his comeback at a rough and tumble track like PGA National, what is he going to do when he has six months under his belt? It was clear over the first few events that the short game hasn't really gone anywhere. Driver will always be an issue, but driver has been an issue throughout his career. The biggest question for me (that had the widest variance) was whether he could dial in the iron play. We got a big affirmative this week.

4. Young stars not fazed: While Tiger's contemporaries always seemed wildly affected by his game and his presence, the newer generation seems to be more intent on impressing him than anything else. Woods played with 21-year-old Sam Burns on Sunday. Burns clipped him by a pair after shooting a 68 in front of Big Cat.

While I think Burns was certainly nervous, I also think you hear a theme of young golfers dying for Woods to validate them. That often leads to better play (anecdotally-speaking, because there is not enough empirical evidence to support this theory). Burns noted in his post-round interview that he asked Tiger on the first hole, "Can you believe all these people came out to see me play?"

5. Bear Trap was his undoing: Woods played the Bear Trap in 8 over for the week and the other 60 holes on the course in 8 under. This is the plight of many a PGA Tour pro who plays this event, but it stood out more because we saw every shot Tiger hit. Still, this week was a massive success. I don't care what his final score was or where he finished. I care that he gained strokes on the field off the tee (he was 44th), finished first in proximity to the hole and finished 15th in strokes gained on approach shots. All of those numbers are more telling for Tiger's immediate future than where he finished in a stacked field.

"I thought I played well this week," Woods told CBS Sports' Dottie Pepper. "I really did. I thought I had control of it. I didn't play the last few holes well the last couple days. Overall, I'm very pleased with the progress I've made. I gave myself a chance at it. I made a big leap this week because I really hit it well. I was able to control it, especially in this wind. It's not easy to do, and I was able to do it for most of the week."