Ups, downs leave Tiger at even par
Despite three tap-in birdies, Woods posts 72, sits seven off lead.
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 in San Diego.
“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 today 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. He was
one rotation away from mak- ing 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 sec- ond hole, when his approach from the bunker landed 6 feet behind the hole and went over the back into light rough.
He also gave away a shot on the par-5 13th, when he laid up from the rough and hit a wedge thatdrifted right and went into the bunker. He blasted that out to 3 feet, which was the hard part. And then he missed the par putt.
Woods made his other two bogeys from greenside bunkers, both times miss- ing 12-foot putts.
He played the par 5s in even par, and didn’t give himself any other birdie chances inside 15 feet.
“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. “Tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll drive a little better, get my irons obvi- ously a lot closer and we get the better of the two greens tomorrow. So we’ll see what happens.”
Finau birdied his opening two holes to set the tone for his round, and he wound up with nine birdies, the last one from 35 feet to take the lead.
He 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 world by winning, opened with a 68 on the South. He hit into the water with his second shot on the par-5 18th, but he saved par with a 15-foot putt.
European Tour: Jamie Donaldson flirted with the European Tour’s first-ever 59 before settling for a 10-under 62 in the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic in the United Arab Emirates.
The 42-year-old Donaldson took a one-shot lead over Anthony Wall and David Horsey. Tyrrell Hatton (64) was fourth, while four-time major winner Rory McIlroy was among five players at 65.
McIlroy, who was bogey free, said he was surprised by the state of his game, especially because he only returned in Abu Dhabi following a three-month break.
“I didn’t expect to play as well as I did last week and it’s been nice to continue that into this week,” he said.
Defending champion Sergio Garcia opened with a 5-under 67.
LPGA Tour: Brooke Henderson shot a bogey-free 5-under 68 in windy conditions to take the first-round lead in the season-opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic at Paradise Island. Australia’s Sarah Jane Smith and Spanish rookie Luna Sobron Galmes were tied for second after 69s.