Tiger cards 3-over 73 on Thursday at TOUR Championship
It was a long, frustrating day for Tiger Woods on Thursday in the first round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. For only the seventh time in his 17-year pro career, and the first since the opening round of the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he failed to make a birdie and shot a 3-over-par 73.
That left him in 29th place in the 30-player event, the last of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. Tiger entered as the points leader for the $10 million bonus, but needs to heat up with his putter to challenge for his third FedExCup title. Henrik Stenson, who ranks second on the points list, shot a pace-setting 64 on Thursday.
“We know he didn’t have the best of days and he’s going to fight to come back into the tournament,” said Stenson, who played with Woods.
Tiger’s tough day started on the par-4 first hole, where he hit a nice approach shot six feet from the cup but missed the birdie putt. Woods bogeyed the 520-yard, par-4 fifth hole, when he bunkered his second shot and failed to get up-and-down, missing a 13-foot putt.
Woods parred the last three holes, but squandered a great birdie opportunity at the 600-yard, par-5 ninth. After a big drive, he reached the green in two and three-putted for a par from 43 feet, making the turn at 1-over 36.
Playing in warm, mostly calm conditions, Tiger bogeyed the 469-yard, par-4 10th. He drove into the right rough, came up 30 yards short of the green in two, and wound up two-putting from 25 feet. Woods also bogeyed the 442-yard, par-4 14th, pulling his tee shot into the left rough and then missing the green right. He was unable to convert a 10 1/2-foot putt.
So it went for Tiger, who hit only 12 greens and eight fairways in regulation and used 34 putts. He was the only player in the field who didn’t record a birdie.
The good news is that Woods still has three rounds to recover and has a great track record at East Lake. He’s won the TOUR Championship twice and has finished as the runner-up four times.
Tiger begins second-round play Friday at 11:40 a.m. ET with Jason Dufner.
