Tiger Woods at Farmers Insurance Open 2017: Thursday Score and Reaction
In his first official PGA Tour event since August 2015, Tiger Woods got off to a bad start at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open with an opening-round four-over 76.
The back nine was Woods' undoing, as he carded three straight bogeys from Nos. 12 through 14 followed by a double bogey on No. 15—a run that started right after he just got his score under par on No. 11.
Here's Woods' full scorecard from Thursday's first round from San Diego:
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| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 |
| Score | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 37 |
| Total | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Score | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 39 |
| Total | E | -1 | E | +1 | +2 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +4 | +4 |
Woods' day started badly when his first shot on No. 1 went into the rough and he came off the green with a bogey.
Trying to take a glass-half-full approach to things, especially given his long layoff, ESPN Stats & Info noted Woods is no stranger to bad numbers on the first hole at Torrey Pines:
Things settled down for Woods after that first hole. He stayed at one over after making the turn thanks to eight consecutive pars. The 14-time major champion hit just four of his first nine greens in regulation, leading to 14 putts over that span.
Per Justin Ray of the Golf Channel, Woods' putter turned out to be his saving grace on the front nine:
After heading to the back nine, things didn't suddenly click into place for Woods off the tee, but he showed tremendous resolve on Nos. 10 and 11, which appeared to turn things around.
Here is how Woods earned his first birdie of the year on the 10th hole, via the PGA Tour:
Woods followed that up immediately with his second birdie on No. 11 to get his score under par, but three straight bogeys on the next three holes undid that work.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, Woods was unable to play from the short grass even as he was hitting those two birdies:
The downward spiral continued on No. 15 when Woods hit his tee shot so far off line that ESPN's Jason Sobel summed it up in just five words:
Because Woods was forced to take a drop after the tee shot, he wound up carding a six on the hole to push his overall score to four-over.
Woods did salvage the end of his round with a birdie on No. 18 that left him walking off the course with a nice grin on his face, via PGA Tour:
He finished hitting just four of 14 fairways and nine of 18 greens in regulation.
ESPN's Bob Harig noted a stark difference between Woods' swing Thursday compared to what he had at the Hero World Challenge in December:
Even with two strong performances at the Hero World Challenge, Woods still showed a lack of consistency that has haunted him since 2014. He sandwiched rounds of 65 and 70 with round of 73 and 76 at that event and finished in 15th place.
Two years ago, Woods memorably withdrew from this tournament because his glutes shut off. Sobel noted Thursday was at least progress in that regard:
But in all seriousness, writer Robert Lusetich broke down what Woods will likely need to do Friday if he wants to stick around for the weekend:
Woods' problems off the tee completely destroyed any shot he had of staying around par. It could indicate a lack of confidence, but more likely, it was just a result of his not being in regular competition for so long.
The second round will be a better indicator of where Woods' game is at. He made it through 18 holes Thursday while getting his body back into game shape.
Now, Woods needs to show he is capable of making quick adjustments to play a round under par Friday.
Post-Round Reaction
After his round, Woods talked about the peak of his day after No. 11 and falling apart right after that happened.
"I was in good shape with a par five coming up, we knew the tees were up,'' he said, per Harig. "If I could just get through 12, drive in the fairway, and 13 we have an iron in there, I could put together a pretty good round. And it went the other way. I hit bad tee shots and made a bad three-putt at 13 and just laid up from the rough into the rough. I just kept compounding problems and mistakes out there.''
One thing Woods did take note of was the slow pace of play on the course.
"We were playing so much slower [today] than I’m used to. ... It was weird waiting that much," Woods said, per Kevin Casey of Golfweek. "I’m not used to doing that at home, where I guess we’re kind of flying a little quicker than this. It was just a different rhythm."
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