Tiger Woods is at ease and in discussion after firing

DUBLIN, Ohio – Tiger Woods played his first hole on the PGA Tour in 151 days and hit a driver 327 meters from the tee on Thursday, hitting his approach shot 145 feet to less than 10 feet and sank a curling, downhill birdie putt.

He walked down the green with a bewildered expression that seemed to say: what? This should be difficult?

Two holes later he was back at it, knocking a 107-yard wedge shot that landed on a devil-shaped green and stopping 13 inches from the hole for another birdie. Woods' comeback after a five-month layoff due to the coronavirus pandemic was about 45 minutes old and he was two under par.

The rest of the day wasn't much of a romp to the top of the rankings at the Memorial Tournament, where Woods is a five-time champion. Either way, it was still a success, especially since Woods looked fit and his swing was relaxed and smooth. He finished the day at the Muirfield Village Golf Club with a substandard 71, good enough to tie him 18th, five strokes behind first-round leader Tony Finau.

"It's been a while, & # 39; Woods said with a grin after that. & # 39; I felt the same eagerness, sharpness, nervousness. And it was tasty. I was a little rusty, but over overall it was a good start. ”

It was also Woods' first round in the ventilation-free environment that the PGA Tour has implemented since the game resumed on June 11 after a 90-day suspension.

Sometimes he seemed almost preoccupied with the lack of distraction in the new setting of elite golf, playing in the silence of a Hollywood sound studio, where a cacophony of chirping birds would drown out the sound of sharp iron shots. , Woods regularly visited the empty hills beside fairways as if he longed for the galleries he normally attracts.

When nine people yelled loudly at him on the porch of a house next to the eighth fairway, he paused for a long time. call to wave his left hand and smiled. Occasionally he made eye contact with the approximately two dozen tour guides, volunteers, and media that followed him, which was highly unusual – but never as a professional had such a small group of people accompanied him on a round.

& # 39; It feels different, & # 39; Woods admitted. "But a new reality."

Yet Woods was known for never losing his basic focus.

"I had no issues with energy or had any fans' responses beyond that," he said, adding that he even enjoyed the less chaotic walks between holes because the lack of spectators meant that golfers could take the most direct routes from greens to tees.

& # 39; Usually I'm meandering roundabout, & # 39; he said laughing.

Woods had four birdies and three bogeys Thursday fitting for a day of uneven character, he streaked towards the center of the fairway, but fluttered chips and wasted multiple craftable birdie opportunities often created by spectacular iron play, but Woods' return to the tour went more about judging his fitness level and the overall health of his game than assigning a score for consistency.

In this way, the 18 holes of Woods should fully encourage his legion of fans. mel was compact, unhurried and powerful. He walked around the steep and undulating terrain without the clumsy, clumsy steps so evident in his last tournament in mid-February when he finished last among the golfers who made the cut and later blamed the stiffness in his surgically reconstructed back. Woods' iron game sparkled and he was eighth in Thursday's field in terms of shots obtained from impending shots on the green.

The vast majority of Woods' setbacks were on or near the greens. After his two birdies on the first three holes, Woods had no other birdie up to the par-5 15th hole, when he pierced his third shot almost 109 meters away, but instead left ten centimeters away from the cup. But at the next hole, a par-3, Woods hit a sand wedge from a greenside bunker that shot across the green and scrambled to make bogey. He missed a 22-foot putt for birdie on the 17th hole after a fantastic recovery from a fairway bunker, fired a nimble assault shot to the 18th hole and sank a twisting 14-foot birdie to complete his round.

Woods climbed up the hill surrounding the last greenery with a big smile, and looked happy to be back. He was asked if he expected difficulties playing and running 18 holes for a second consecutive day.

"No," Woods said emphatically and in a hurry. "I'm ready for this."