Tough for Tiger, Holmes in lead
It was the stuff of dreams, for a while. Tiger Woods was back competing on a golf course, striking the ball long and sweet, pulling off improbable shots and racking up the birdies.
For almost two hours here at Albany, the Hero World Challenge host looked like he would make it his own party. On a day the winds died away on the par-72 7,303-yard course, Woods opened with a couple of pars before turning up the heat with four birdies over the next six holes.
It was breathtaking stuff, long irons, wedges, putter all working to perfection. It also gave him a share of the lead in this high-class field. But then, the wheels began to come off.
A bogie on the ninth hole, three miss-hits and suddenly, Woods was cascading back through the field to 17th place in the 18-strong field even as J.B. Holmes calmly worked his way into the lead with an eight-under par 64 on the opening day of the $3.5 million event.
Hot on his heels on a seven under 65 was icecool Japanese Hideki Matsuyama, while Dustin Johnson made a late surge to lie third on six under 66.
But it was essentially about Woods. So clean was the golf that after eight holes, he had a share of the lead with Holmes. But four wayward shots, including one on the 18th that found the water saw him in freefall. The back nine was horrendous and he closed out with a pair of double bogeys between the 15th and 18th holes.
What will give Tiger-watchers around the world hope was the ease with which he hit the ball, the backswing going long and deep, the followthrough unhindered. There was no evidence of two back surgeries and a 466-day recovery period during which he literally had to be helped out of bed at one point.
“It could have been something really good. I got off to a nice, solid start and made a few mistakes there,” Woods said later.