Tiger turns in up-and-down first round at THE PLAYERS
Tiger Woods shot a 1-over 73 on Thursday in the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He is tied for 77th and sits six strokes off the lead shared by four players.
A two-time winner of the event, Woods climbed to 1-under with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17, but found water off the tee at the demanding par-4 18th hole and ended the day with a double-bogey.
“Probably the highest score I could have shot today,” a disappointed Tiger said afterward. “I didn’t get much out of that round. I hit the ball better than I think the score indicates.”
A late front-nine starter with Martin Kaymer and Adam Scott, Tiger bogeyed the par-4 first hole, pulling his 3-wood tee shot into the trees on the left. He came up short of the green in two, elected to putt and failed to get up-and-down to open with a bogey.
Woods made a scrambling par at the par-5 second, then just missed a good birdie opportunity at the par-3 third. At the par-4 fourth, Tiger hit a good drive, stiffed his approach five feet from the cup and made the birdie putt.
At the par-4 fifth, Woods came up short of the green with his approach shot, but again chose to putt, easing his third shot three feet right of the hole before converting the par putt. Tiger gave himself another good birdie chance at the par-4 sixth, but much like the third, he left his 15-foot attempt just short of the cup.
Following a two-putt par at the seventh hole, Woods fatted a 4-iron at the 210-yard, par-3 eighth that ended up short-right in the water. Tiger would go on to record a double-bogey.
“It’s one of those things where (swing coach) Chris (Como) and I are working on some things and when I start feeling a certain way, I revert to old habits,” Woods said. “I don’t think my ball actually touched the grooves, put it that way.”
At the 569-yard, par-5 ninth, Tiger pulled his drive into the trees on the left, hit a nice recovery shot back into the fairway, then knocked his third shot about nine feet left of the hole and sunk the birdie putt to make the turn in 1-over 37.
Woods nearly made it two in a row at the 406-yard, par-4 10th, where he hit a good drive and nestled his second shot just inside 10 feet. Again, Tiger left his birdie putt agonizingly short and settled for a par.
At the 548-yard, par-5 11th, Woods hit his tee shot into the left fairway bunker and had 217 yards to the green. He went for the green in two with a long iron and came up short in a deep bunker. With little green to work with, he blasted 15 feet beyond the pin and again left his birdie attempt inches short of the cup.
Tiger made a nice up-and-down par-save at the 12th hole, where his second shot came up short of the green. He did it again at the 179-yard, par-3 13th after the wind knocked down his 9-iron shot, but he was fortunate to clear the water. Woods handled the uphill chip nicely, the ball stopping six feet short of the hole and poured in the par putt.
At the 487-yard, par-4 14th, Tiger carved a nice fade off the tee into the fairway and was left with 180 yards to the green. From there, he hit a beautiful second shot into the wind that slid about 15 feet past the hole and rolled in the birdie putt.
But Woods dropped a shot at the 425-yard, par-4 15th. He hit his drive into the right fairway bunker and his path to the green was blocked by a tree. Tiger did well to cut his second shot just short of the green, chipped five feet past the hole and narrowly missed his par-saving putt.
At the right-to-left 532-yard, par-5 16th hole, Woods grooved a 3-wood down the fairway. Easily reachable in two, he hit a mid-iron from 232 yards onto the left fringe, about 30 feet below the back-left pin placement, and two-putted for a birdie.
Moving to the short but testy 123-yard, par-3 17th, which features TPC Sawgrass’ signature island green surrounded by water, Tiger barely kept his ball dry, winding up just off the front of the green against the fringe. He elected to blade a sand wedge from the tough lie and it proved a good choice as the ball dove into the cup for a birdie. The fans loved it and Woods tipped his cap, flashing a big smile.
At the 468-yard, 18th hole, Tiger hit a 3-wood into the water on the left. Moving up 15 yards and now hitting his third shot, he knocked his next shot into the right rough and was left with 200 yards to the green. Woods hit a solid shot 20 feet below the cup, but two-putted for a double-bogey.
For the day, Tiger hit 10 of 18 greens in regulation and used 27 putts. The latter stat was misleading given all the near-misses he had.
“Just really struggled hitting the putts hard enough to get them to the hole,” Tiger said. “I need to make a better adjustment on that.”
Woods begins second round play Friday at 8:39 a.m. ET on the 10th tee with Kaymer and Scott.
