Woods missed several short putts over his opening nine holes, but finished his first nine with a birdie to get to 1-under par for the day. Tiger made par at 11 and 12, and took advantage of the par-3 13th with a comfortable birdie. Woods hit a perfect drive to the center of the fairway, and was left with just 190 yards to the green. His approach went long, but he managed to two putt to get to 2-under.
On “Chinese Fir,” the 440-yard par-4, Woods hit a rare wayward drive, and was left with a difficult second shot over trees in the left rough. Woods hoisted a ridiculous recovery shot over the trees to the back right portion of the green, just 25 feet from the hole. A two-putt would have been a good result, but Woods curled in the birdie and unleashed a fist pump for the crowd.
The birdie moved Woods out of a large group at 2-under and into a three-way tie for the lead with Justin Harding and playing partner Jon Rahm.
Unfortunately for Woods, he spoiled a birdie opportunity with an awful approach shot at the par-5 15th. Woods flew the green with his second shot, and his bump-and-run attempt came up short of the green. He was able to get up-and-down for par.
Woods dropped down the leaderboard with a bogey at No. 17 triggered by another poor drive, but rebounded with a par at No. 18 to card an opening-round 70.
