Masters 2012: Breaking Down What Tiger Woods Must Do to Rebound

Tiger Woods did not get off to a great start at the 2012 Masters, in more way than one.

For starters, Tiger hooked his first two tee shots into the woods. He managed to save par on both holes, but it was hardly an ideal beginning and it set the tone for the rest of his opening round. In the end, he squandered a chance to finish under par by capping his round with bogeys on 17 and 18.

There's no reason for anybody to panic, Tiger least of all. He rarely finishes under 70 in the first round of the Masters, so Thursday's result is nothing out of the ordinary. He can still win this thing.

But in order to win, there are a few things Tiger has to do. 

Find the Fairway

Tiger's first two tee shots were well off the mark, but they weren't the only ones. In all, he hit just six of 14 fairways.

Tiger's inability to straighten his drives out put a lot of pressure on him to make par-saving shots, and there was certainly a lot of pressure on him to make putts once he got on the green. 

If you take all this pressure away, Tiger probably has a great day and he finishes well under par. If that were the case, we'd be having an entirely different conversation right now.

There's no need to get too technical here. If Tiger wants to rebound in the next couple days, he's going to have to straighten out his drives and find a few more fairways. He did a good job of limiting the damage on Thursday, but he simply wasn't able to do much else.

Keep Up the Good Putting

Tiger's drives were a mess on Thursday, but the good news is that he putted the ball very well.

Tiger needed just 29 putts on Thursday, which is a big reason why he managed to save par on so many holes. He missed some makeable putts here and there, but taken as a whole he putted the ball very well.

Tiger's good putting on Thursday is a sign that he's still very much a danger to win the Green Jacket this year. All he has to do is get his swing straightened out, and the birdie opportunities are going to start coming fast and furious. Judging from what we saw on Thursday, Tiger is going to make more of them than he's going to miss.

Have a Good Warm-Up

Sound random?

It's not. According to Bob Harig of ESPN.com, Tiger said he had a poor warm-up session before he teed off on Thursday, and he was unable to shake it off.

Remember those first two drives? Well, there you go. Tiger didn't feel right from the start, and it showed right away.

Tiger will have plenty of time to get a good warm-up in on Friday, as he's not scheduled to tee off until 1:42 p.m. ET. He teed off around 10:35 a.m. on Thursday, so he'll have a few extra hour to play with.

A better warm-up should lead to a better start, and a better start could conceivably lead to a solid round of golf.

Stay Focused

Thanks in large part to his bad warm-up, Tiger was completely out of whack on Thursday. He was so out of whack, in fact, that some bad habits started to rise to the surface.

According to Shane Bacon of CBSSports.com, Tiger told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi after he finished his round that he let some old habits effect his reworked swing on Thursday. The results speak for themselves.

Tiger can't let those bad habits grab hold of him again. He's come too far and worked too hard to lose focus now. All he has to do is re-familiarize himself with all the things that made him a winner at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he could do no wrong.

In order to recapture his old dominance, Tiger needs to make good use of his new swing.