The walk from the 18th green to the Riviera Country Club clubhouse is steep. But whatever pain a smiling Tiger Woods must have felt in his right ankle seemed soothed by the crowd chanting his name near the grassy auditorium surrounding the hole.
Despite an injury that still plagues the 15-time major winner, Woods capped off his first round of competitive golf in seven months with three birdies in the last three holes at the Genesis Invitational to shoot a 2-under 69 and paused to return. An electric one for the PGA Tour.
Woods is five shots behind co-leaders Max Homma and Keith Mitchell.
Woods said of his birdie putt on No. 18, “I didn’t want to be the stupid host to miss it in front of everybody after birdie-birdie.” “It was a wonderful period.”
Woods’ enthusiasm on the 18th was not only the culmination of seven months of waiting and rehabilitation but also a fitting end to a period that was anything but easy. Over the course of more than five hours, Woods grinded for clutch pars and bounced back from three bogeys to hit a flurry of vintage shots that turned his entire tenure around.
Woods told reporters on Tuesday that hitting shots was not a problem. And on Thursday, he went out and proved as much. Off the tee, Woods was regularly hitting the ball 320 yards (three drives went over 330 yards) and trailed both his playing partners, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, on some holes.
As Woods explained, the way the course is set up allows him to gain more distance off the tee as the ball rolls, although he still only has to adjust to the distance he is getting based on adrenaline. It was lying
Woods said, “There’s nothing like coming up to the game time, just trying to calm down the feeling of butterflies and all those things.” “Even though it’s cold out here, [the ball] was going further than we expected. I had to dial all that back.”
Given his physical condition, there was an expectation that the back nine would be hard to bear for Woods. Be that as it may, his game improved as the rounds progressed. Drives went further, approach shots were tighter, and putts were eventually falling. After making bogeys on the 10th and 12th, Woods made three straight pars before reaching the 16th tee and hitting the shot of the day.
Woods set to the left of the tee box and holed a 9-iron that faded to the right and lofted five feet past the cup. The putt slid to the right and it looked like Woods was getting the spark he needed. He drove 322 yards on the par-5 17th and sank a 24-foot putt for birdie. That was good enough to elicit the first fist pump of the day.
By the time he reached the 18th green and only had about eight feet for his third straight birdie, it felt almost like a formality. There was no fist pump as the ball fell, just a quick salute to the crowd that had been cheering him on relentlessly from the first tee shot.
“I was trying to calm myself down all day,” Woods said. “Trying to figure out what I’m doing here because I haven’t played.”
Woods’ return is encouraging given his health. During his run, there was still a slight hitch in his step as he was trying to limit the pressure on his right ankle. A few times into the round, Woods removed his right shoe and fixed his ankle brace and sock. Other times as he waited to take off the tee, he would swing his right leg up to stretch it.
As he wrapped on the 11th green, Woods also took a moment to apply the cream to his right lower back.
Woods said, “My ankle is a lot smaller than it used to be. I’ve had so many surgeries that the ankle keeps changing, the foot keeps changing.” “Yeah, shoes keep changing, socks changing. Everything has a goal. How much I’m on my feet, how much I’m not, how active I am, how not active, the muscles that are ‘off.’ It’s a moving target all the time.”
Now comes the real test. After finishing their rounds after 5 p.m. Local time Thursday, Woods is set to play the second round on Friday at 7:24 a.m. PT (ESPN+) — a 14-hour turnaround to get his body ready for 18 holes in cold weather. As Woods explained, there will be a lot of icing and treats in between. Meanwhile, his playing partner McIlroy said he would spend some of that time hitting the driver.
“I’m going to work on the range,” McIlroy said. “I don’t like him hitting me.”
Woods said that playing with two of his closest friends, Thomas and McIlroy, made the round more enjoyable.
“The ups and downs of needlepointing each other, encouraging each other, and telling stories,” Woods said. “I haven’t been out here, so I’ve missed some of the things that happened on tour, which is fun.”
It was clear on several occasions on Thursday that Woods was enjoying being back. However, it was equally clear that the joy he showed after the round was linked to his good performance and having a chance to win in his mind.
“That’s why I tee it up,” Woods said.