NASSAU, Bahamas — As his tee time approached and Tiger Woods was going about his game-day routine Thursday morning, he was overcome with a powerful surge of emotion.

To put it as bluntly as possible, the last year has sucked for Woods — personally and professionally.

His injured back limited him to only seven rounds of tournament golf in 2016 before he had to shut it down. He had back surgery in April.

And then he was arrested for DUI in May after he was found by police asleep at the wheel of his running Mercedes on the side of the road, his system overloaded with painkillers.

So, only five months removed from the physical pain of the back injury and emotional humiliation of the arrest, Woods finally was going to do what he was born to do again in Thursday’s opening round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club.

He was going to play tournament golf again. He was going to try to win.

This was going to be Woods’ first round of tournament golf in 301 days, dating to the opening round of the Dubai Desert Classic, where he appeared to be moving around gingerly like a senior citizen, not a player who’s won 79 times worldwide, including 14 majors.

So make no mistake: That 12:05 p.m. tee time of Woods’ was a watershed moment for him.

“I was very thankful this morning,’’ Woods said after shooting an impressive 3-under 69 to stand only three shots out of the lead. “I was, in my head, thanking all the people who have helped me in giving me a chance to come back and play this round again. There were a lot of people that were instrumental in my life — friends, outside people I’ve never met before, [and] obviously my surgeon. I was very thankful. I make sure, in my head, I try to thank every one of them.’’

Woods has been known for many things. And not one of them is for being a very deep thinker who shares his raw emotions with anyone outside of his minuscule inner circle.

But this is a different, more humble Woods now. This is a player who has grown to appreciate and embrace all the things he took for granted while he was annihilating the psyches of his competitors during his prime.

Woods, when it seemed like he was winning almost every tournament he entered, never slowed down to take in relationships with his fellow players.

The great irony is that the current generation of top golfers, who owe so much to Woods for raising the bar for them to try to reach and for building the game to what it is today with the crazy-rich purses, unwittingly are paying him back now.

It’s the new friendships he has with Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy and Daniel Berger to name a few that have energized Woods to come back from the abyss of his injuries and lost last few years.

“I’m telling you, the guys have been great from JT to Berger to Rory to all the guys, Rickie, DJ,’’ Woods said. “I played with all of them and they’re all trying to help me. They’re all texting me — ‘C’mon, let’s go out and play, let’s go play for some dollars and have a good time.’ They really want to help me come back and play.

“It was nice to be able to play rounds of golf with those guys. Obviously, we were needling each other pretty hard and trying to get in each other’s kitchen.’’

Woods’ kitchen used to be off limits to anyone other than the cook.

Camaraderie was not in his vocabulary. He would arrive at tournaments with a steely eyed glare that silently screamed, “Stay away from me.’’ And he would leave the golf courses often right off the final hole of the round without as much as a stop in the players lounge or locker room.

Not anymore. Woods now seems bent on taking it all in, enjoying the ride — whatever’s left of it — and making the most out of it while he’s still able. And on Thursday, he looked quite able.