Tiger Woods: Expectations Exceeded at Bridgestone Invitational, Could He Win?

Tiger Woods started off his first 18 holes since returning from injury without too many fireworks, shooting an even par 35 through the first nine.

However, Woods decided to get into a groove on the back nine, starting off with consecutive birdies on holes 10 and 11. He added a bogey on 14 and a birdie on 16 to head into the clubhouse -2.

It was a terrific first round for Tiger who was forced to save par twice on the front nine with long par putts.

He couldn't have been happier about the first round in his post-round news conversation with ESPN,

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I was hitting proper shots out there, and the distances I was hitting the golf ball, I hadn't hit the ball like this. This was fun, to be able to hit the ball with that much flush feeling the through the ball and speed I had. It was pretty nice.

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Woods currently sits in a tie for 18th place but is six shots off of Adam Scott at the top of the leaderboard. The irony behind it is that Woods' former caddy, Steve Williams, now holds the bag for Scott.

With Woods putting together a solid round, the next question is can he win the event?

It would be easy to say that he has regained his form and he is ready to make a surge this weekend at Firestone Country Club, but that would be a huge reach for anyone, even Tiger.

Woods needs to get three more rounds of solid golf in him and shouldn't worry about chasing the leaders. Tiger should set his sights on the PGA Championship, which is coming up in one week.

If Tiger puts together a solid weekend, he could be ready to make a splash next week at the Atlanta Athletic Club.