EVEN BETTER
Tiger’s round at par the best of his comeback
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Tiger Woods said he was “pleased’’ with the opening-round even-par 70 he shot Thursday at the Honda Classic — and he should have been.
It was Woods’ best ball-striking round and overall performance since his comeback began.
Woods enters Friday’s second round trailing leaders Alex Noren and Webb Simpson by four shots. Five players, including New Jersey’s Morgan Hoffmann, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, Louis Oosthuizen and Mackenzie Hughes, who’s missed his last eight cuts, carded 3-under 67s to stand a shot off the lead.
But it was Woods’ round, the seventh in a full-field PGA Tour event of his comeback, that was highly encouraging.
He hit 7-of-14 fairways, but that was a bit deceiving because he was not far off the short grass when he did miss. He hit 10-of-18 greens in regulation, but that, too, was deceiving because of the blustery wind conditions. His short game and putting were sharp, as he needed only 27 putts (17-of19 on putts of 10 feet or less) and scrambled for par six times.
“It felt solid today,’’ Woods said. “I feel like I’m really not that far away. I’m starting to really get a feel for scoring again and scoring in tournaments, and today was a day that I’m very proud of because I missed the ball in the correct spots. I didn’t do that in L.A., hit the ball in the wrong spots and consequently, I was down the road after two days.
“I felt like I hit the ball really well, and it was tough out there. I had to hit a lot of knock-down shots. I had to work the golf ball both ways, and occasionally downwind, straight up in the air. I was able to do all that today, so that was very pleasing.’’
The last time Woods played at the Honda Classic was in 2014, when he withdrew after 13 holes of the final round citing back pain. That led to the first of his four back surgeries, ending in the spinal fusion procedure he had last April. Since then, Woods has played in just 22 worldwide events and is now currently 544th in the world.
“I’m trying to get better, more efficient at what I’m doing and also I’m actually doing under the gun, under the pressure of having to hit golf shots, and this golf course is not forgiving whatsoever,’’ Woods said. “I was very happy with the way I hit it.’’
Two days before the opening round, Jack Nicklaus, one of the most famous local residents, predicted some “ugly’’ scores considering how difficult the PGA National Champions Course was playing and the predicted windy conditions.
By the time Thursday’s first round was complete, Nicklaus’ prediction was spot on: Only 20 of the 143 players who teed off finished below par.
In an interesting twist, the top of the leaderboard was largely dominated by players who live in the area. Thomas, Hoffmann, Berger, who had a bogey-free round, Woods and Noren all have homes near the golf course.
“I spend the winters down the street here, 15 minutes away, so I’m used to wind, but it’s very tricky when it’s so firm,’’ Noren said. “On the West Coast, we had almost too good of a weather. We haven’t played in much wind yet. It’s a tough golf course. It’s got the same grass at the [nearby] Bear’s Club, so I’m used to the Bermuda.’’
Simpson, who lives in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the outlier non-locals atop the board. He hasn’t played in the Honda Classic since 2011, when he had to withdraw because of injury. So his opening round was eye-opening.
“Anything in the red figures here is good,’’ Simpson said. “It’s a really hard golf course, and it looks like it’s going to be windy all week, so I told myself, any score under par, I’m doing something right.’’