Woods content with average start

It was by no means the start he was looking for, but fallen legend Tiger Woods said he felt good after shooting a 1-over-par 73 at Augusta National on Thursday.
The 39-year-old completed the opening round of the Masters in a tie for 43rd place with the early pace being set by Jordan Spieth who nearly broke the course record as opened up a three-shot lead following his 8-under-par 64.
Although there were signs of improvement from Woods who has only played 47 holes this year, he hardly resembled the man who has won 14 majors in little more than 11 years.
He attributed his average start to the speed of the greens and admitted that it could have gone better had he not made a few silly errors.
“It was a good day,” Woods told reporters.
“I felt good out there. I made probably two dumb mistakes out there, but other than that, the only thing I really struggled with was the pace of the greens. I couldn’t believe how slow they were.”
Looking at his round, Woods could have been lower down the leaderboard had he not saved par on four holes around the turn.
He made bogey saves on the ninth and 12th holes, and strong par saves on the 10th and 11th.
Woods bogeyed the ninth and parred the 10th and then faced serious trouble on the tricky 11th.
On the before mentioned hole he was forced to chip over a bunker toward the green, with the infamous pond lurking beyond.
His chip of 34 yards rolled to within five feet of the hole, and Woods made the putt for par – during January and February he would most probably have found the sand or water.
“That’s the strength of my game,” Woods said of his chipping.
“That’s the way it should be. I worked my butt off for a couple months, hit thousands and thousands of shots.”
Woods would, however, not have a dry round as his tee shot landed in Rae’s Creek on the par-3 12th after which he escaped with a perfect pitch to tap in for a bogey.
He came right back with a birdie on the par-five 13th – he birdied the first three par 5s on the course, his only birdies of the day – but then got himself into trouble again on the 15th when his tee shot whizzed into the trees.
Latest
-
News
Rory McIlroy leads the way in Abu Dhabi as he eyes overdue victory
McIlroy will have to keep his Ryder Cup team-mates at bay if he is to claim the trophy.
-
News
Tyrrell Hatton dominant as Rory McIlroy falters in Abu Dhabi
Hatton led by five shots at the end of a second weather-affected day.
-
News
Phil Mickelson on Tiger’s latest surgery: ‘I feel bad because golf should be a game of a lifetime’
Mickelson admitted he was saddened by the news of Woods’ latest back surgery.
-
News
Rory McIlroy makes brilliant start to fog-affected Abu Dhabi Championship
McIlroy has a remarkable record in Abu Dhabi with four second-place finishes.
-
News
Rory McIlroy shines in Abu Dhabi to take first-round lead following flawless 64
McIlroy has a remarkable record in Abu Dhabi with four second-place finishes, three thirds and a fifth in his last nine starts, but has never won.
-
News
Justin Thomas on end of Ralph Lauren deal: ‘They moved on so that’s what I’m doing as well’
Justin Thomas said he was upset by...
-
News
My last win feels a long time ago – Rory McIlroy aiming to start year on a high
McIlroy has not tasted victory since November 2019.
-
News
Rory McIlroy insists Justin Thomas will ‘try to be better’ after homophobic slur
World number three Thomas was heard using a derogatory word towards himself after missing a par putt in Hawaii.
-
News
Rory McIlroy sad to miss Conor McGregor fight
Rory McIlroy has been to UFC star Conor Mcgregor’s last three fights but will miss Saturday’s clash due to European Tour commitments.
-
News
Rory McIlroy backs Tiger Woods to make quick recovery from latest back surgery
McIlroy expects the American to be fit for the Masters in April.