Tiger Woods returned to the game of golf for the first time in 12 months on Thursday with a level-par 72 at the Farmers Insurance Open, which included a near ace on the par-3 16th hole.
Woods spent the majority of 2017 sidelined following spinal fusion surgery and returned to Torrey Pines with a bogey on the opening hole.
His struggles continued from there with a dropped shot at the par-four fifth but he rallied with birdies on the 6th and 10th holes.
The 42-year-old ended his round seven shots adrift of clubhouse leader Tony Finau, but admitted that it was just good to get back out on the course again.
Vintage Tiger.
WOW. #ShotOfTheDay pic.twitter.com/4DYSLvFhds
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 26, 2018
Commenting on his near hole-in-one on the 16th, Woods told the PGA’s official website: “It was just a full six-iron. I just had to throw it up in the air as high as I could. It felt good, it looked good and then we were just listening for some noise.
“I’ve got to hit my irons a little better than I did today. I didn’t hit them very close, didn’t give myself a lot of looks. It’s hard to make a lot of birdies when you’re not giving yourself any looks and I didn’t do that today.
“So tomorrow hopefully I’ll drive better and hit irons a lot closer and we’ve got the better of the two greens tomorrow so we’ll see what happens.”
Woods has won eight times at Torrey Pines, including his last major in the 2008 US Open but failed to make the cut at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open, finishing in 83rd place.
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