On a rainy day at Royal Portrush, Tiger Woods had to wait until the afternoon to begin his round – and his opening tee shot left golf fans worrying that he may have tweaked his back.
Woods pulled an iron off the tee into the rough to the left of the fairway, and cameras caught Woods grimacing as he watched the ball. Woods may have just been reacting to a poor shot, but given his history of injuries, any sort of negative expression after a swing inevitably leads to speculation that he may have hurt himself.
Woods was fortunate to draw a decent lie in the rough, but his approach to the green came up just short, and his ball rolled backward into a punishing greenside bunker. Tiger hit an excellent third shot, then drilled a putt to save par at No. 1.
UPDATE: Woods finished his round with a 7-over par score of 78.
Fans watching Woods’ round were preparing for the worst after his opening shot.
