5-under 67 for Tiger in PLAYERS first round

Tiger Woods got the start he wanted Thursday in THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. He posted a 5-under-par 67, his best opening round in 16 starts on the Stadium Course, and is tied for fourth, four strokes behind early starter and first-time participant Roberto Castro, who equaled the course record with a 63.

Tiger almost played the usually treacherous Pete Dye layout bogey-free for the first time in his career, a span of 56 rounds, but bogeyed the par-4 18th hole. Still, the 67 marked his best score at THE PLAYERS since shooting a final-round 67 in 2007.

“I felt I had to go out and shoot something in the 60s,” said Woods, a late starter with defending champion Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker. “Most of the guys were under par in the morning session.”

The top-ranked Woods, the only multiple (3) winner on the PGA TOUR this year, feasted on the par-5s, making birdies on all four. While his longest made putt was only six feet, he hit several nice lag putts from long range and one-putted 12 times, finishing with 24 overall.

Playing in warm, partly cloudy conditions, Tiger toured the front nine in 2-under 34. He birdied the 532-yard, par-5 second hole, getting up-and-down from the right, greenside bunker.

He followed with six-straight pars, missing a great birdie chance at the par-4 seventh, where he knocked his approach shot from 175 yards four feet from the cup but failed to convert. But after a nice par-save at the par-3 eighth, Woods flagged his third shot at the 583-yard, par-5 ninth from 100 yards just inside two feet for an easy birdie.

On the back nine, Tiger made it two-in-a-row with a beautiful birdie at the 404-yard, par-4 10th, nestling his second shot from 143 yards six feet from the pin and made the putt. He carded his third-consecutive birdie at the 558-yard, par-5 11th, where he hit a nice drive, came up just short of the green with a long iron from 236 yards, then hit a perfectly-judged uphill chip to two feet for a tap-in birdie.

And he wasn’t done. Woods recorded his fourth-straight birdie at the 346-yard, par-4 12th. After splitting the fairway with a 5-wood, he clipped a sand wedge from 80 yards five feet below the cup and poured in the putt.

Tiger made a good two-putt from 40 feet at the 176-yard, par-3 13th, then made a scrambling par at the 459-yard, par-4 14th. At the latter, he blocked his drive way right, but the ball came to rest on a cart path and he was awarded a free drop. Woods dropped the ball on pine straw and hit his second shot from 173 yards short-right of the green. But again, he hit a wonderful pitch that nearly found the hole, happily settling for a par.

After a two-putt par at 15, Tiger found the first cut of rough with his driver at the 523-yard, par-5 16th, then hit just short of the green. With the ball sitting down in thick Bermuda rough, he gouged a sand wedge six below the back-right pin placement and drilled in the birdie putt.

The par-3 17th hole, which features an island green surrounded by water, has given many players fits through the years, Woods included. Although it only played 124 yards on Thursday, the front pin proved challenging, especially with swirling wind. Tiger’s sand wedge wound up 54 feet above the pin, and he did well to lag his birdie attempt three feet left of the cup, escaping with a par.

The 462-yard, par-4 18th is no bargain, either, and features water along the entire left side of the hole. Woods hit a good drive and had about 200 yards remaining to the back-right pin. He flushed an 8-iron that landed flag-high on the right but released over the green into a collection area, then stubbed his touchy uphill chip into the grain just short of the putting surface. Tiger tried to chip in for a par, but just missed on the right, resulting in his lone bogey.

“The ball was flying forever out there,” he said.

Woods hopes to improve his ball-striking on Friday, but admitted he managed his game well in the opening round. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation.

“I missed all my shots in the correct spots,” said Woods. “Hopefully, I can play a little better tomorrow.”

Woods, who won THE PLAYERS in 2001, begins second-round play Friday on the 10th tee at 8:39 a.m. ET with Kuchar and Snedeker.