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Tiger Woods Tied Atop Tour Championship Leaderboard After Eagle to End Round 1
September 20, 2018
Tiger Woods opened the Tour Championship with a five-under 65 on Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
As he entered the clubhouse, Woods had a share of first place with Rickie Fowler. The 14-time major champion closed his first round with a flourish, sinking a 27-foot eagle putt on No. 18.
Putting is often the biggest indicator as to Woods' overall performance. He's no longer a physical marvel relative to his PGA Tour colleagues, so he has to rely even more so on his short game.
When he's in a groove on the green, Woods is a threat to win any tournament in which he's playing. However, he can quickly tumble down the leaderboard when things aren't working with his putter.
Woods didn't get off to a great start, three-putting for a bogey on the first hole. That didn't prove to foreshadow how the rest of his day unfolded, though. According to PGATour.com, He gained 1.244 putting strokes Thursday, which ranked fifth in the Tour Championship.
Back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth holes got Woods under par.
It looked like Woods was headed back to even par on No. 7 when his tee shot sailed well right of the fairway and into the trees. Somehow, he escaped and reached the green with his second shot to set up a par.
Woods moved to three under with birdies on the 12th and 14th holes before the eagle on No. 18 drew loud cheers from the Atlanta crowd.
The 42-year-old still has a long way to go to capture his first title of the 2018 PGA Tour season, and he may not be in first place by the time the first round concludes. Still, it's impossible to ignore how much he has raised his game of late.
The Action Network's Jason Sobel added further perspective on how far Woods has come:
Regardless of whether he goes on to win the Tour Championship, simply having him in contention through the weekend will be enough to satisfy fans.