Tiger Woods: Bogey-Free Round Great Start for Golf's Biggest Star in Abu Dhabi

Tiger Woods avoided disaster in the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship, which is perhaps the best way he could have started in the Middle East. 

After a seven-week offseason, the last thing Tiger needed was to kick off the tournament with poor play. He shot a 70 and trails Rory McIlroy and Robert Karlsson by three strokes. 

Only making two birdies, Tiger still has reason to smile because he had a bogey-free day, which will keep his confidence strong. Of course, his score could have been much better, but once again he had a hard time putting. 

Tiger told the Associated Press that the putting greens prevented him from a great day:

"

I had a hard time reading the greens out there. The greens were pretty grainy and I just had a hard time getting a feel for it. Toward the end I hit some pretty good putts, but overall I got fooled a lot on my reads.

I controlled my ball all day and just had a hard time getting a feel for these greens. They are grainy enough where I just didn't quite read them right, and I hit them good, and then the grain would take it, not take it. It was just difficult.

"

The putting may have been off, but the rest of his game looked solid. 

This good start to the tournament is just what Tiger needed. It's a new year, which means Tiger has to stay focused and strive to win these big tournaments. 

The scandal is well in the past, so now it's time for Tiger to start winning to truly put everything behind him. 

Tiger hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation and 10 of 14 fairways. The one green he missed came on the first hole, which is a par-five. After that, it was mostly smooth sailing for Tiger, which will do wonders for him moving forward. 

The key for Tiger is to not get flustered and avoid choking away the Abu Dhabi Championship. Even if he doesn't win, just playing top-notch golf again will help him down the road this season.

2012 has the potential to be a great year for Tiger, but a bad start will put him in a deep hole that won't be easy to get out of.

Finding success in the Middle East will greatly benefit Tiger for the remainder of the year. A bogey-free round was a great start to the Abu Dhabi Championship, and now Tiger just has to keep playing at this level. Although, it never hurts to step it up a notch either.