Tiger brings back big crowds, big cheers with a 72
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 opening 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 shots behind Tony Finau, who led with a 65 on the North Course at Torrey Pines, and Woods will play that course on 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 putt 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.
“It felt good, looked good, and then we were listening for some noise,” Woods said.
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. That was on the second hole, when his approach from the bunker landed 6 feet behind the hole and went over the back into light rough.
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Australia’s Sarah Jane Smith finished with a bogey to drop into a tie for second with Spanish rookie Luna Sobron Galmes.
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