Tiger Woods at Greenbrier Classic 2015: Thursday Leaderboard Score and Reaction

The 2015 season has been a dreadful one for Tiger Woods, but he got off to an excellent start at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on Thursday.

Despite a few rough patches, Woods finished the day with an impressive four-under 66. That kept him right near the top of the leaderboard, as he went into the clubhouse tied for eighth.

For Woods, it wasn't just a good day—it was his best day in quite a while, as Ryan Lavner of the Golf Channel noted:

That came 16 months ago, when Woods shot a 66 in the third round at the WGC Cadillac Championship.

On Thursday, Woods finished with seven birdies, one bogey and one double-bogey. He hit 14 greens in regulation, finished with 1.5 putts per greens in regulation and had a driving accuracy of 71.43 percent, per PGATour.com.

He said afterward he felt great about the round, especially his three straight birdies to end play, per the Golf Channel Tiger Tracker on Twitter:

The most important moment of the day for Woods came on his first hole, No. 10—he started on the back nine—when he opened with a par. That's been an all-too-unfamiliar occurrence for Woods, as Jason Sobel of ESPN noted:

Woods was excellent in his first seven holes, with four pars and three birdies, including this birdie at No. 12, per the PGA Tour on Twitter:

He also looked like the Tiger of old on No. 15:

Holes like those had Sobel praising the veteran's swing:

And his excellent start was good enough to equal one stat it took him the entirety of the U.S. Open to reach, per ESPN Stats & Info:

If ever there was an indication of how off Woods was at the U.S. Open, that statistic tells the story.

Woods cooled off a bit after his hot start, hitting a bogey, a double-bogey and five pars on his next seven holes. No. 6 in particular was a disaster, per the PGA Tour on Twitter:

But that set up his excellent finish, as Woods went into the clubhouse with three straight birdies to rescue an excellent round—one that had folks wondering what it could mean if he maintains this level of play through the weekend.

Folks like ESPN's Trey Wingo:

Indeed, Woods looked like a different golfer Thursday. While he wasn't playing at a superstar level, he was far better than he's been in recent tournaments. If he can build upon and improve on Thursday's round throughout this tournament, he'll at least be able to carry some momentum into the Open Championship.

That's a bridge to be crossed in the future, however. For now, Woods will likely be pleased he got through a round below par while playing very solid, promising golf.