“And people started cheering”. And made some putts…
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Sunday’s round was not a bad score for a man who last played on the PGA Tour on Sunday in 2015 because of back problems.
There just weren’t enough cheers for his liking.
Woods said he could take many positives from his first tour event since last year’s Farmers, where he missed the cut.
“He felt good, ” said Woods’ caddie, Joe LaCava. “It was fun to be out there”. When he tried to return after a 16-month break a year ago at Torrey Pines, he missed the cut. That fell exactly on the cut line.
The two players who were grouped with Woods the last two days – Patrick Reed and Charley Hoffman – understood the deal.
Woods was poised over a ten-foot putt on his fourth at Torrey Pines – the par-five 13th – when the spectator yelled “get in the hole”. He finished third last week in Abu Dhabi and was runner-up in Dubai, which should move him back into the top 10.
He came to life from the moment he drained a 30-footer for birdie at the first (his 10th), fist-pumping like the Woods of old before picking up further birdies at the fifth and seventh. Day nearly holes his short iron approach.
“The positive of the first round was I made five birdies on the South course, which are tough to come by, and I just mixed it with some rough and silly errors due to being a bit rusty”, said Day. He blasted that out to 3 feet, which was the hard part.
Hsu bogeyed the par-3 17th when her putt horseshoed out and closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th. Palmer hit his second shot 259 yards, leaving him with a 44-foot, 6- inch putt for the eagle. “I feel like overall Britt [caddie and sister] and I did a really good job again just calculating numbers and negotiating the wind as best we could”.
“His short game is probably as good if not better than I remember it being”, said Brandt Snedeker (74, 1 over), who along with Sung Kang (75, 2 over) played with Woods.
But there was no mistaking his presence. That was right before he had a second and third surgery on his back, which kept him away for some 15 months.
“We play so much golf all year”.
Australian Jason Day had Friday’s low score, a bogey-free 8-under 64 on the North Course that lifted him into a tie for sixth, at 7-under 137, four shots off the lead. The fusion surgery eliminated the pain.
“So I’m happy coming back from that”.
Woods shot an even-par 72 on the South Course on Thursday.
He dropped his third shot of the day at the 14th when unable to get up and down from a greenside bunker though his birdie at the next, one of the toughest holes on the course, was seemed to lift his confidence. He settled for par and a 73.
Noren carded a three-under par 69 to take the 54-hole lead on 11-under 205.
“A few times I had to jack up the speed and had no issues at all”, Woods said. “There were more people out here today compared to what we’ve been playing in front of”. “But I think it did great today”.
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There are 24 players within five shots ahead of Sunday’s final round, Noren alone at 11-under and one ahead of 36-hole leader Ryan Palmer who is outright second. His second shot also found the rough before he hit a brilliant chip shot to within two feet for the par putt.
