Tiger Woods never found himself in serious contention to win a tournament after shocking the world at the Masters in April, and after Woods revealed he had knee surgery in August, fans and analysts seemed to be tempering their expectations for Tiger’s upcoming season at the age of 43.
After his first round of the year, however, the Tiger Woods hype train has left the station and is approaching full speed. Woods began his season at the Zozo Championship on Thursday in Japan, and after a rocky start with three consecutive bogeys in his opening three holes, Woods surged to the top of the leaderboard with a classic charge.
Beginning with a birdie at the par-5 14th hole, Woods carded a total of eight birdies over his next 12 holes to take the solo lead of the tournament.
Woods’ putter was on fire, and he made several lengthy birdie putts from outside of 10 feet.
Woods often struggled in the first rounds of tournaments in 2019, and has not led a tournament outright after the first round on the PGA Tour since 2009.
Woods finished his round with a birdie to card an 6-under par round of 64 and take a two shot lead in the clubhouse.
