Tiger Woods says the continued success of Phil Mickelson serves as an example to all golfers entering the latter stages of their careers. Also at 70 were Justin Rose, Masters champion Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Steve Stricker, who won last week on the PGA Tour Champions.
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Woods, on the other hand, could hardly contain his smile, oozing satisfaction as he reflected on his performance.
The 42-year-old got off to an ideal start by nearly chipping in for an eagle on the par-five first and tapping in for an easy birdie, but bogeyed the fourth after misjudging the swirling wind and firing his tee shot 20 yards over the green.
‘It’s just a hard test. “I know there have been no changes as far as the design goes, but I think they have resurfaced some of the greens and I will see if the breaks match my book”, he added. “I asked Henrik, ‘What do you do around this golf course when there’s no wind here? The whole group got fooled a lot today”.
The 14-time major victor, just five starts into his latest return from an April 2017 spinal fusion, hit seven of 13 fairways, including six of seven on the front nine.
He finished the day with five birdies and just one bogey, getting through his round with just 24 putts.
Tiger Woods expects golf’s old guard to mount a challenge for this year’s US Masters at Augusta.
But his bravado was rewarded as he managed to save his par, and moments later Woods came within a couple of inches of making a hole-in-one in an entertaining finish to his debut round at Innisbrook.
There was a gain for his pain, though, as he was able to advance his ball near to the green and save par. My forearm hit the tree a little bit.
Hadwin is paired with Tony Finau and 2016 champion Charl Schwartzel for the first two rounds. Mickelson went on to note that despite the fact that Woods kept him from ever becoming No. 1 in the world, Lefty’s career has been longer and better because Woods exists.
Leader Conners, who failed to qualify for the Valspar earlier this week and only made the field as an alternate, mixed five birdies with a closing bogey for the lead.
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Kelly Kraft, Nick Watney and South Korea’s Whee Kim are tied for second at 3 under, while Keegan Bradley, Scotland’s Russell Knox and Jimmy Walker share the fifth spot at 2 under.
