With old putter in hand, Woods soars on return
NEWTOWN SQUARE, US: Tiger Woods’ comeback season has gone better than he could have dared hope 17 months ago, when he had his fourth operation to repair a debilitated back. There have been brilliant late charges up the leaderboard, five top-six finishes and a riveting last day of the PGA Championship, when Woods shot his lowest final round ever in a major, sending the galleries into a frenzy as he finished second behind Brooks Koepka. But victory has eluded him for several reasons: accuracy off the tee, sluggish first rounds and, perhaps most vexing, wayward putting. So before this week’s BMW Championship, Woods found an old friend in the back of his car, the Scotty Cameron putter that he had used for 13 of his 14 major championships. With the 19-year-old putter in his hands, he turned into the Woods of old Thursday in the sweltering first round of the BMW, the third of four FedEx Cup playoff events. He made several long putts and covered his first nine holes at Aronimink Golf Club in 29 strokes, his lowest nine-hole total in a PGA Tour event in 11 years, and finished tied with Rory McIlroy for the lead with an 8-under-par 62.
It was Woods’s lowest round relative to par this year, and the first time he has held a share of the lead after a round since the second day of the 2015 Wyndham Championship.
“I’m a little tired,” Woods, 42, said. “It will be nice to hop in a little ice bath or some kind of cooling thing.”
In the other 45 PGA Tour events this year, players holding at least a share of the first-round lead have gone on to win nine times.
“It’s a great start,” Woods’ caddie, Joe LaCava said, “but there’s a long way to go.”
Before Thursday, Woods had shot under par just once in his last 11 opening rounds. He was 2-over after his first four holes at the Dell Technologies Championship last week and 3-over after two holes at the PGA Championship last month. In Woods’ first 16 starts, his first-round scoring average of 71.13 was 1 to 3 strokes higher than that of his other rounds.
So when he rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt at his first hole, the 10th, LaCava said it was a big boost. “That certainly helped,” he said.
McIlroy, who held off a finalday charge by Woods to win the Arnold Palmer Championship this year, teed off seven groups behind him Thursday and was well aware that Woods was 7-under after 10 holes. “He had it going as well, obviously,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy, 29, took up where he had left off in the Wednesday pro-am, where he made seven consecutive birdies on his second nine.
Woods credited his fast start to skipping the pro-am. Instead of enduring a long round with amateur partners in scorching heat, Woods put in time at the gym, received some physical therapy and spent hours off his feet watching U.S. Open tennis coverage.
“I needed a day off to recover and make sure I was fresh for today,” Woods said, adding, “Disappointed I didn’t play in the pro-am but, then again, it was the best thing for me.”