Arnold Palmer Invitational 2012: Tiger Woods Must Stay Aggressive in Round 2

Tiger Woods has staged quite a comeback since being carted off the course in the middle of the final round at Doral with a left Achilles injury two weeks ago. On Thursday, he shot a 69 in the first round in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, three shots off the lead.

However, while Woods seems exceedingly confident about his performance and its implications for his health, perhaps he should continue to proceed with caution.

"For some reason, the course just fits my eye," Woods told the Daily Record's Dale Rankin after the round. "I was just solid all day—I drove the ball well, hit my irons decent and putted all right. … I'm in a position where I can hit again. That's something that's been missing for a while and it's all the work that my coach Sean Foley and I have put together."

Judging by his performance on Thursday, you wouldn't even know Woods had been carted off the course at Doral a couple of weeks earlier. He sat atop the leaderboard after birdieing three of the first six holes, and only a couple of three-putt bogeys kept him at bay behind leaders Jason Dufner and Charlie Wi.

Woods obviously feels great. Perhaps a seventh Arnold Palmer Invitational title really is within his grasp. It's encouraging to see him rebounding so fast and furiously from an ankle injury that, only a couple of weeks ago, seemed to put the rest of his PGA Tour season in jeopardy.

Even so, Woods should be careful. He's been plagued by injuries for the last couple of years, and doing too much, too soon, could truly hurt his chances of making a full and complete recovery.

More than anything, Woods doesn't want to miss the Masters, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational is his final event beforehand. A good performance in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, should he hold his ground or creep up the leaderboard, will do wonders for his confidence and his focus.

However, he must hope it's not too much, too soon. Woods' desire to be healthy for the Masters has been tangible ever since he exited the WGC-Cadillac Championship, and missing the tournament would really hurt.