BACKONTHE PROWL, TIGER IS STRUGGLING
The return of Tiger Woods felt more like a celebration Thursday at Torrey Pines.
Hundreds of fans lined up against the railing behind the 18th grandstand to watch Woods walk onto the first tee for his first PGA Tour event in 17 months. Thousands more stood behind every inch of rope from tee-to-green, and they were six-deep in spots around the green. As he made the turn, workers filled three balconies at the Scripps Clinic. No other player brings this much energy to a golf course.
Now he just has to bring his game.
Woods battled to save par, and then he fell apart during a six-hole stretch on the back nine and stumbled to a 4-over 76 in the Farmers Insurance Open. It wasn’t his worst score on the fabled South Course at Torrey Pines, though it was his highest score of his career in the first round of a new year.
“I let it slip away in the middle part of the back nine,” Woods said. “And unfortunately, didn’t hit very good shots.”
Woods wound up 11 shots behind Justin Rose, who opened with a 65 on the shorter North Course with the new and smooth greens. Adam Hadwin of Canada, who shot 59 last week in the California desert, had the low score on the South at 66.
It was a rude welcome back to the PGA Tour, and to Torrey Pines, where Woods has won eight times as a pro.
He had not played on the PGA Tour since Aug. 23, 2015, when he tied for 10th in the Wyndham Championship. Two back surgeries followed, and Woods missed all of 2016 until returning at an unofficial event with an 18-man field and no cut in the Bahamas the first week in December.
This was different in so many ways.
Along with fighting his swing—he didn’t hit a fairway after No. 7—and coping with thick rough he had not seen since the 2015 PGA Championship, Woods said he had a hard time adjusting to the pace of play from being in threesomes.