Tiger returns, but he still has work to do
SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods brought big crowds back to golf, and he even produced a few big roars.
In his first PGA Tour event in a year because of a fourth back surgery, Woods mixed a few mistakes with a few shots that looked familiar Thursday on his way to an even-par 72 in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open.
“It was fun to compete again. It was fun to be out there,” Woods said.
But he was seven strokes behind Tony Finau, who led with a 65 on the North Course at Torrey Pines, and Woods will play that course Friday on the bubble to make the cut. With virtually no wind on a day for reasonable scoring, he was tied for 84th.
Woods was steady on the South Course and, at times, spectacular.
His three birdie putts were from a combined 30 inches. The longest of his birdie putts was from just inside 2 feet on No. 10 that got him back to even par for the round. He was one rotation away from making a long eagle putt on the par-5 sixth.
What really made the gallery delirious was his 6-iron on par-3 16th hole that rolled toward the hole and broke just in front of the cup, settling 8 inches away. With the sun starting to set behind the Pacific, it was hard for him to see.
But he needed those three birdies to offset his mistakes, and the sobering part of his return is that Woods didn’t make a putt longer than 4 feet.
He also gave away a shot on the par-5 13th, when he laid up from the rough and hit a wedge that drifted right and went into the bunker. He blasted that out to within 3 feet, which was the hard part. And then he missed the short par putt.
Woods made his other two bogeys from greenside bunkers, both times missing 12-foot putts.
“It’s hard to make a lot of birdies when you’re not giving yourself any looks, and I didn’t do that today,” Woods said.
Still, there was no mistaking his presence.
Fans lined both sides of the opening fairway in anticipation of seeing Woods, who was playing the PGA Tour for only the second time since August 2015.
Finau had a one-shot lead over Ryan Palmer and Ted Potter Jr., who each had a 66 on the South. Defending champion Jon Rahm, who can reach No. 1 in the opened with a 68 on the South. In other golf news; • Brooke Henderson shot a bogey-free 5-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the season-opening Pure SilkBahamas LPGA Classic at Paradise Island, Bahamas. Australia’s Sarah Jane Smith finished with a bogey to drop into a tie for second with Spanish rookie Luna Sobron Galmes.