One the eve of the Farmers Insurance Open Tiger Woods was uncharacteristically non-combatant. Whereas during his prime he would declare – stony-phased at pre-tournament press conferences – that his only objective was to win, these days he is much more circumspect.
After playing six days per week to prepare for his 2018 U.S. PGA Tour debut, unencumbered by the quotas that have limited his practice time over the past few years, he said, “Now it's just, hey, want to go play 18, want to go play 36? Sure. That to me is fun.”
Fun? As the Tour explained in its report of his return to competition, “After years of struggling with back pain, Woods has enjoyed the camaraderie of playing with his friends at his home club. Fellowship has never been Woods’ first priority on the golf course, though. A thirst for competition has driven him to 79 PGA Tour titles and 14 majors. All the casual golf in the world can’t replace the emotions that tournament golf elicits.”
As Tiger himself noted, “I want to start feeling what it feels like to be out here and hit shots (and) grind out scores.” He had that opportunity in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open and, according to the Tour, “He played Thursday’s first 13 holes exactly how a reasonable witness to last month’s play in the Bahamas would expect. His clubhead speed was high, and his iron shots sailed higher. But for every impressive shot that harkened back to Woods’ better days, there was a miscue that reminded us that Woods has played just one official PGA Tour event since 2015.
“Tap-in birdies on numbers 6 and 10 were offset by three bogeys and several pars that were saved only by deft short-game work. He seemed headed in the wrong direction toward the middle of his back nine, dropping his driver in disgust at the par-4 12th hole and making a sloppy bogey at the next hole after dumping a short wedge shot into a greenside bunker on the par-5. ‘I was probably a little bit rusty,’ he said. The slide stopped there, though, as Woods fought to salvage an even-par 72 that kept his hopes of spending the weekend in San Diego alive. He hit his final five greens in regulation, including an impressive tee shot on the par-3 16th that was the defining highlight from his first round.
“He admitted Wednesday that he is still searching for a swing that works best with his physical limitations following back-fusion surgery. ‘I’m still learning it,’ he said. For all the gushing over the numbers he’s producing on Trackman, great golf is a product of consistency over weeks, months and years. Woods exhibited the unsteady play characteristic of a man who’s still trying to learn his swing and has played just 12 competitive rounds since 2015. He will start his second round on the North Course in a tie for 84th place.”
After completing his round, Tiger said, “It was fun to feel that competitive rush again and have a scorecard in my hand and try and post a number.”
Of course, it might be hard to guess this all the Tiger-mania coverage, but there are 155 other players competing at Torrey Pines, including defending champion, new world number two and winner last week Jon Rahm. The Spaniard opened with a four-under 68 on the South Course to be well-placed just three shots behind the leader Tony Finau (North Course). If he wins on Sunday he will rise to top spot in the world rankings.
