Woods struggles to 2-over 74 to open PLAYERS
Tiger Woods got off to a slow start Thursday in the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. An early back-nine starter with Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan, Woods made five bogeys and three birdies and shot a 2-over-par 74.
Ian Poulter and Martin Laird are co-leaders, with each shooting a 65.
“I just didn’t score,” said Woods. “I hit three decent shots in there and just got some of the worst lies.”
Playing in calm, sunny conditions, Woods bogeyed the par-4 10th hole, where he hit his approach shot from the right rough into a right greenside bunker and was unable to get up and down. After a par at the par-5 11th, he two-putted the par-4 12th hole for a par from 22 feet, then birdied the 181-yard, par-3 13th hole, nestling his tee shot eight feet from the cup.
Woods saved par at the 481-yard, par-4 14th hole, making a six-foot putt. But he dropped a shot at the 449-yard, par-4 15th, where he drove into the right fairway bunker, blasted out well short of the green, and couldn’t get up and down.
At the 523-yard, par-5 16th hole, Woods found the fairway and had 236 yards remaining to the green, which is flanked by water along the right side of the hole and behind the green. His second shot missed the green long-left, and he was unable to make birdie, eventually holing a three-foot par putt.
At the always-exciting 17th hole, a 124-yard par 3 which features an island green protected by water, Woods had no problem. He knocked his tee shot within 13 feet of the front-left pin placement and buried the birdie putt.
Tiger drove into the left rough off the tee at the dangerous, 462-yard, par-4 18th, where water lines the entire left side of the hole. His second shot came up well short of the green. He punched his third shot from 24 yards to about nine feet from the hole and missed the par putt to make the turn in 1-over 37.
Looking to make something happen on his second nine, Woods bogeyed the 422-yard, par-4 first hole, where he missed the green from the fairway and was unable to salvage par with a 10-foot putt. But he bounced right back with a birdie at the 552-yard, par-5 second hole, where he drove into the left rough, muscled his second shot from 268 yards into the left greenside bunker, and hit a nice explosion shot to six feet.
Woods again gave back a shot at the 177-yard, par-3 third. After his tee shot carried over the green, he chipped 11 feet past the hole and two-putted for a bogey.
“The best shot I hit all day was on the third hole, and it ended up in a spot where I couldn’t really play from,” he said.
Tiger also missed the green with his 132-yard approach shot from the fairway at the 384-yard, par-4 fourth hole, but scrambled for a par.
Woods made a nice two-putt par from 58 feet at the par-4 fifth, then two-putted for a par from 20 feet at the par-4 sixth. He nearly holed an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-4 seventh, but left the ball just short.
At the 230-yard, par-3 eighth, Tiger hit a good tee shot 26 feet past the hole and faced a downhill putt. The birdie putt looked true but again came up just short of the hole.
The 583-yard, par-5 ninth hole proved to be an adventure. After pulling his drive into the left trees, Woods compounded his mistake by punching his second shot into a fairway bunker. He had no chance to reach the green and punched out into the fairway, then hit his fourth shot from 83 yards six feet past the hole and saved par.
For the day, Woods hit nine greens and seven fairways in regulation, and used 28 putts.
For the third consecutive tournament, he did not feast on the par 5s, playing them in a combined 1-under par. He birdied only two of eight par 5s last week in the Wells Fargo Championship before missing the cut for only the eighth time in his PGA Tour career.
“You have to take care of the par 5s,” said Woods. “I haven’t done a very good job of that.”
Tiger starts second-round play Friday on the first tee at 1:49 p.m. ET with Fowler and Mahan.
