Woods gets ‘tournament feels’ at Bay Hill
ORLANDO – Tiger Woods was trudging back up the hill toward the tee box on the third hole at Bay Hill during Thursday’s first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a 275-yard journey that gave him time to calm down.
Behind Woods was the spot where his ball wound up 4 inches out of bounds, forcing him to take the long trip back to the tee. After hitting another tee shot with his 3-wood, Woods went on to make a double-bogey 6.
It was his only spot of bother in the round.
Adding another positive day to his latest comeback, Woods, who finished tied for second last weekend in the Val-
“I’m going out there and hitting shots and I’m scoring.” Tiger Woods On his opening-round 68 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
spar Championship, shot 4-under-par 68 to stand four shots back of Henrik Stenson, who missed the cut last week but shot 64 Thursday. Aaron Wise and Talor Gooch shot 65 and were in second place. Jimmy Walker holed out from 132 yards for eagle on the 18th to shoot 67, which was matched by Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau.
Woods, who has won this event a record eight times, including in 2013 when he last played it, started on the 10th tee and made six birdies. This is his fifth PGA Tour start since spinal fusion surgery, and for the first time he made birdies on each of the four par-5s in a round.
“I’ve got my tournament feels now, which is nice,” Woods said. “That was only going to come with time and with patience and just playing golf tournaments. I’m going out there and hitting shots and I’m scoring. I’ve been away from it for so long that when I first came back it was just a matter of just getting my feel for tournament golf again. I think I have. I feel like I’m not really thinking as much around the golf course. I can just see and feel it and go.”
Stenson let it go on the back nine, when he made six birdies. Last week in the Valspar, he made one birdie in 36 holes.
“I hit some lovely shots out there today,” said Stenson, who needed just 20 putts before signing his scorecard. “Last week the putter was so cold, but I did some work on my setup and posture.”
Woods needed a little time to warm up as the Orlando area woke to chilly temperatures. Shortly into his round he started to author a variety of impressive shots, including a 350-yard drive on the
16th that was aided by a cart path and led to a birdie. After his out-of-bounds fiasco on the third, he came back with a
296-yard drive up the hill and into the wind at the par-5 fourth, then knocked a
3-wood from 270 yards just over the green, from where he made birdie. On the sixth hole, he spun a pitch shot off a dicey lie from 34 yards to 4 feet — “That was money,” Woods said — for another birdie. On the next hole, he canned a
70-footer for birdie.
“It was a good day,” Woods said. “Another good step forward.”
With his fused back no longer an issue, neither are any shots he wants to hit. The winner of 79 Tour titles and 14 majors can shape every shot and hit stingers, fades, draws and the full-bore driver. His short game is superb.
All of which means the narrative during his comeback has changed, the queries no longer dealing with his health but dealing with the state of his game. He was the betting favorite heading into this week and for the Masters.
Patrick Reed, who tied for second with Woods in the Valspar Championship, also shot 68. He’s not surprised that Woods has become a contender again so quickly in his return to the game. “He’s Tiger Woods, OK,” Reed said. He’s glad he can go toe-to-toe with the former No. 1.
“I love being on top of the leaderboard when Tiger’s around because it means that he’s playing well, which is good not only for the tournament but also good for golf. There’s also the electricity that goes around the entire place when he’s playing well. For some reason, it just kind of gets me going and hopefully I can continue playing some solid golf and see him late on Sunday.”