Anyone who was expecting to see a new and improved version of Tiger Woods this week are unfortunately feeling very let down. Thursday’s performance showed us much of the same old thing we’ve been seeing from Tiger recently.
He started off good with an early birdie that got everyone’s hopes up, followed by an in-ability to make a putt.
Tiger went 13 holes between his only two birdies. “That’s probably one of the worst putting rounds I’ve ever had,” Woods said. “I can’t putt the ball any worse than I did today.”
Coincidentally, Woods fell out of the world rankings for the top 50 players this week… and it showed.
As the first round was finishing, Woods was one shot out of the top 70 and ties that will advance to the weekend.
He had not played since missing the cut at the PGA Championship in August, finishing out of the top 100 for the first time in a major. Woods said the time off at least gave him time to practice, to nail down the major work in his swing change with Sean Foley, and to play 36 holes a day at home in Florida.
Being back on the PGA Tour was different, even if it looked the same. “I need to put together a good round tomorrow and gradually piece my way back into the tournament,” Woods said.
There was nothing special about his game, although whatever he did right was derailed once he got on the greens. Woods missed three putts inside 6 feet, two of them for birdie. Even toward the end of his round, he froze when he saw a 4-foot par putt on the 16th hole take a 360-degree ride around the edge of the cup before falling.
“The rest of the game was not too bad,” Woods said. “I hit some bad shots, yes. But also, I hit some really good ones. And very pleased at the shots I was hitting most of the day. But I got nothing out of the round on the greens. And whatever momentum I could have gotten by hitting good shots … you know, I just missed putts.”
He missed a 6-foot birdie attempt at the par-5 ninth, but saved par with a 12-footer — the longest putt he made all day — on the next hole. That appeared to give him a lift, for he stuffed his tee shot on the par-3 11th to 4 feet.
The putt didn’t even touch the hole.
And then, Woods made a mess of the par-5 12th. From the left rough, the grass grabbed his club and pulled the shot toward the hazard. Woods never found the ball, had to return to the other side of a creek and lay up short of another hazard in front of the green. He had to work hard to two-putt from 35 feet for double bogey.