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Tiger Woods Rallies to Take 1st-Round Lead in ZOZO Championship 2019
October 24, 2019
Tiger Woods overcame a rough start to shoot a six-under 64 during the first round of the 2019 ZOZO Championship in Chiba, Japan.
Woods' 2019-20 season could not have gotten off to a much worse start, as he bogeyed each of his first three holes of the tournament. However, he eventually settled in and put his disastrous beginning behind him.
The 15-time major champ turned things around by running off a string of four birdies in five holes to close out the back nine, nabbing three in a row at one point:
Just like that, he went from three over par to one under as he made his way to the front nine.
The 43-year-old's surge stalled on the first two holes of the front nine, but he quickly regained some momentum with back-to-back-to-back birdies:
With the help of seven birdies in 10 holes, he moved into a three-way tie atop the leaderboard at four-under.
He wasn't finished, though. A birdie on hole No. 7 gave Woods the lead all to himself for the first time.
A birdie on his final hole—his ninth of the round—was a fitting way to end the day. By the time Woods' first round came to an end, he held a two-stroke lead, though others were still in action at that point.
This marked the first Tour event for Woods since August, when he tied for 37th at the BMW Championship.
Woods' second round was initially scheduled to begin at 7:40 p.m. ET on Thursday night, but inclement weather in the forecast will push tee times up one hour.