Tiger fights through rough start, finishes strong at TPC Scottsdale

Tiger Woods rebounded from a rough start to shoot a 2-over 73 on Thursday in the opening round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Playing in his first official PGA TOUR event since the PGA Championship last August, Woods looked rusty and out of sync on the front nine, struggling to a 4-over 39. He only found 2 of 7 fairways, missing left and right, and his chipping wasn’t sharp.

But Tiger battled back, flagging a 5-iron second shot to six inches for a tap-in eagle at the par-5 13^th, then drove the green at the 341-yard, par-4 17^th and left a 25-foot eagle attempt just short of the hole for a tap-in birdie, touring the side in 2-under 34.

Woods wound up hitting eight fairways and 10 greens in regulation and used 30 putts.

“This is my second tournament in six months, so I just need tournament rounds like this where I can fight through it, turn it around, grind through it and make adjustments on the fly,” Tiger said after his round.

Tiger is tied for 104^th and trails pacesetter Ryan Palmer by nine strokes. Woods is currently two shots off the cut line, with the top 70 and ties advancing to the weekend following second-round play Friday.

Playing with Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth in front of an enormous crowd — a first-day record 118,461 turned out — in 70-degree temperatures, Tiger was making only his third appearance in the event and first since 2001. He did not get the start he wanted.  

Woods bogeyed the first two holes, missing both greens and hitting poor chips. At the par-5 third, he hit another poor sand wedge from just off the green, but managed to get up-and-down for par.

Tiger double-bogeyed the 174-yard, par-3 fourth. After missing the green to the right, he failed to reach the putting surface with his second shot, ran his third shot five feet past the pin and two-putted.

At the 470-yard, par-4 fifth, Woods recorded his first birdie of 2015. He drove into the left rough, knocked his second shot from 150 yards 20 feet right of the hole and buried the putt.

Tiger made a nice save at the par-4 sixth, holing a five-foot putt, then parred the next two holes. At the 453-yard, par-4 ninth, he hit a 3-wood into the right rough and was left with an awkward stance, the ball settling into tall grass just above a bunker.

With the ball well above his feet, Woods positioned his left foot just outside the sand and placed his right foot in the bunker and choked down on the club, doing well to advance the ball just short of the green. From there, he hit a bad chip over the green but got up-and-down for bogey.

After a long two-putt par at the 10^th hole, Tiger fell to 5-over with a bogey at the par-4 11th, but it could have been worse. He blocked his drive into the sandy desert on the right and his ball came to rest just in front of a small bush. Woods hit his second shot heavy and wound up next to a cactus, but manufactured a swing to get the ball on the green 65 feet from the cup and escaped with a five.

Following a two-putt par at the par-3 12^th, Tiger began to find his rhythm. He crushed a driver down the fairway at the 558-yard 13^th and made eagle, then made a terrific par-save from the front left bunker at the 490-yard par-4 14^th – the longest par-4 on the course.

Woods missed the fairway at the vulnerable 553-yard, par-5 15^th and was forced to play short of a fronting water hazard. He hit a poor wedge from 117 yards and settled for a two-putt par.

At the raucous 156-yard, par-3 16^th, which is surrounded on all sides by an estimated 15,000 spectators, Tiger backed off his tee shot twice — the second time after a fan yelled as he addressed the ball — but reached the green safely with a 9-iron and two-putted for par. In 1997, he aced the hole, one of three he has made during his PGA Tour career.

Woods hit his best drive of the day at the short but dangerous 17^th, flanked by water along the left side of the hole. After racking up an easy birdie, Tiger then two-putted the par-4 18^th hole for a par.

“It’s not the first time I’ve gone through this,” Tiger, who missed most of last season with a back injury and has tweaked his swing with new coach Chris Como, said. “It takes time. It’s just a frustrating thing where I just need to get through competitive rounds. I need to get rounds under my belt and get a feel for it. Eventually I start trusting it, start shaping shots, then you just go play.”

As for his ragged chipping, Woods said he is still making a transition from his old swing to his new swing, which is why he often used a 4-iron or putted around the greens instead of a more lofted club.

“I’m just having a hard time finding the bottom of the club,” he said. “Because of my old pattern, I was so steep on it, that I have a new grind on my wedge and sometimes it’s hard to trust.”

Tiger begins his second round Friday at 9:57 ET on the 10^th tee with Reed and Spieth.