In his first tournament in months, Tiger Woods struggled at the 18-player Hero World Challenge's opening round on Thursday.
With a five-over-par 77, Fox Sports noted how Woods' short game was off. The former world number one "flubbed four chips. He took two shots to get out of a bunker on the par-5 seventh hole. He didn't have a birdie putt inside 20 feet until the 11th hole. And on the four birdie chances he had inside 10 feet on the back nine, he made only one of them. And that was a tap-in," recalled the site.
Woods struggled right off the bat with an Out-of-Bounds (OB) during his tee shot in the first hole. In the standings, the 38-year-old trails leader Jordan Spieth by 11 shots. The famous golfer ended the round with five bogeys and one double bogey.
"Today (on Thursday) was weird. I didn't feel like I did that bad. Short game was awful. Didn't make anything, quoted the Indian Express of the athlete.
"But I missed it a few times on the front nine on the wrong side, just sides you can't miss it on, like on 2. But it was just one of those days where really nothing went my way. Hit two of the best shots I could possibly hit on 13 and I walk away with a 6," said Woods on his performance.
Tiger, ever the champion wouldn't allow himself any excuses. ESPN noted that the Woods has his own short-game facility in his home.
"I just haven't faced grain this thick," was all he could say, adding: "My short game area is very tight. It got a little stickier in the longer grass around the greens and I just hit horrible chips."
The winning gol is returning from a four-month lay-off due to a back injury but only began swinging at balls in October. Woods' last play was during the PGA Championship last Aug. 9.
The sports website noted that Woods landed eight fairways and 10 greens in regulation.
"I played a practice round with him on Monday, and he flushed it,'' said Jason Day who played the first round with Woods. "His short game was on point. To see that many poor chips from Tiger Woods is surprising.''
Fox Sports does not that with the recovery period and returning with a new coach, the score he raked up may not be so surprising after all.
Spieth, 21, is the youngest golfer on the field. He won the Australia Open last week, his second career title. "I'm excited about how last week went and I'm kind of riding the momentum," said Spieth. "I'm going to give it my all these last few days."
The leaderboard begins with Spieth (-6), followed by Henrik Stenson, Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker and Rickie Fowler at -5. Next, with -4 are Graeme McDowell, Hideki Matsuyama and Jimmy Walker.
