Woods begins PGA TOUR season with 4-under 68
Tiger Woods recorded a strong start Thursday in the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif. He carded an adventurous, 4-under-par 68 in cloudy conditions and is tied for 20th place, three strokes behind co-leaders K.J. Choi and Brandt Snedeker.
Tiger’s round included an eagle, six birdies and a double bogey.
“I made a few mistakes out there, but I made some nice plays as well,” said Woods, a six-time winner of the tournament and the 2008 U.S. Open champion at Torrey Pines.
Playing the longer and tougher South Course, Tiger was paired with Rickie Fowler and Nick Watney. Woods began with a birdie at the par-4 first hole — a hole that gave him fits in the 2008 U.S. Open — then parred the next two holes. However, he three-putted the par-4 fourth hole and suffered a double bogey.
Woods rebounded quickly by sinking a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-4 fifth hole, then holed a bunker shot for an eagle at the par-5 sixth. Following a par at the seventh hole, where he made a nice up-and-down from a greenside bunker, Tiger birdied the par-3 eighth and par-5 ninth holes. At the latter, he again got up and down from the sand and made the turn in 4-under 32.
Woods continued his good play on the back nine with birdies at the par-4 12th and par-5 13th holes. But his putter cooled off, and he struggled coming in.
Tiger bogeyed the par-4 15th and par-4 17th holes, and was unable to birdie the par-5 18th. He missed three birdie putts from 15 feet or closer on the side, and failed to convert two par putts inside of eight feet.
He toured the par-5s, however, in 4-under for the round.
Woods hit 72 percent of the greens and 50 percent of the fairways in regulation.
Although he missed the cut last week at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, Tiger said he swung the club well despite the tight fairways and windy conditions, and was better rewarded Thursday.
“I felt like I was doing a lot of good things last week,” he said. “And I came out here today and did basically the same thing.”
Woods will switch to the North Course on Friday, which played 1 1/2 strokes easier than the South Course in the first round. He begins play on the 10th hole at 12:20 p.m. ET with Fowler and Watney.
