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NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods threw a clump of grass in the air on the eighth tee. He did so not once, not twice, but three times as he tried the to judge the breeze and calculate the club to hit and the distance to carry at the par 3. His concentration broke for a moment, something uncommon for him but it became a recurring problem as the round continued.
“I just didn’t quite commit to what I was doing and feeling,” he said.
Woods’ game showed some rust on Thursday. On the bright side, he made four birdies, but he carded five bogeys and a double bogey for a 3-over 75 at Albany Club in the opening round of the Hero World Challenge. Still, it was a victory of sorts just to be back in his element, playing competitive golf for the first time in 235 days since undergoing surgery to fuse his right subtalar joint after the Masters in April.
“You take it for granted, I guess, when you’re playing all the time,” he said. “OK, the wind, it’s coming up, move the ball back, you just kind of lean on it just a little bit, just flight it down a little bit, add a couple yards in. Instead of reacting to it, I was thinking about doing it. Then as I was thinking about it, should I do this or not, by then I’m pulling the trigger. I shouldn’t really pull the trigger. Hit a bad shot. I kept doing it time and time again. It was a lack of commitment to what I was doing and feeling. I’ve got to do a better job of it… Now I know mentally what I need to do better. I think that’s something that physically I knew I was going to be OK. Mentally, I was really rusty and made a lot of errors in the mind that normally I don’t make.”
Woods showed he still has plenty of power, ripping six drives of more than 300 yards. Woods noted he has less mobility after his injuries and as a result, his hips are going forward before the club is reaching the top and limiting how far the club goes back. It’s allowing him to create more power with a more efficient coil and a smoother transition. In all, he hit six of 13 fairways, 10 greens and took 30 putts, the best of which was a 48-foot bomb for birdie at No. 11.
He hit one wild drive at No. 15 to the left and paid the price, trying to whack his second shot from a bush and barely advancing it. That led to a double bogey and he compacted the error with bogeys at No. 16 and 17. There was plenty of curiosity about how Woods would play among the competitors in the 20-man field.
“Looks like he could suit it up for the Dawgs on Saturday,” said Brian Harman of his beloved Georgia Bulldogs football team that is set to play in the SEC Championship game and a reference to Woods’ buff physique. “He is one heck of an athlete. I hope he feels good, I hope he’s moving good, I hope he’s pain free and can play a little bit more.”
After the round, Woods said on multiple occasions that he felt sore. “Everywhere,” he said, and when pushed to name where he felt it most, he added, “Leg, my back, my neck.”
Three more guaranteed days of Tiger is, as Fred Couples put it, Christmas comes early. On Friday, he’s paired with Rickie Fowler at 11:02 a.m. ET. Here are four more things to know from the first round of the Hero World Challenge.
Hero: Friday tee times
