Tiger Woods’ long-awaited return to competitive golf exceeded expectations on Thursday when the 45-year-old golfer played an excellent round to start the 2023 Genesis Invitational.
Riviera Country Club has traditionally not been a friendly venue for Woods, who has never won an event at the golf course.
Still, that didn’t stop him from getting off to a strong start and ending the round with an even better finish.
Wood regularly out-drove both Thomas and McIlroy off of the tee and showed improvement with his putter by saving par on a couple of different occasions.
He shot 1-under on the front nine but nearly unraveled on the back-9 before birdying the final three holes of the round.
Check out some of the highlights from Woods’ Round 1 at the Genesis Invitational below.
Strong finish ✔️
Solid start ✔️@TigerWoods cards an opening-round 2-under 69 @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/746rMmukHx— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 17, 2023
Tiger Woods Birdies Hole 1 At Genesis Invitational
Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour did not disappoint at the Genesis Invitational.
It didn’t take long for Woods to get on the right side of the scorecard on Thursday, as the 82-time PGA Tour winner wasted no time birdying his first hole.
Watch Woods’ birdie on hole 1 below.
One hole, one birdie.@TigerWoods is off to a perfect start @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/DqHYHs8P4t
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 16, 2023
Woods Birdies 16, 17, & 18 To Finish 2-Under Par
After a rough stretch on the back-9, Woods seemingly rounded into form when it mattered most down the stretch.
He converted a birdie on the par-3 16th to get back on track, and from there, seemed to reach another level that golf fans haven’t seen from him in quite some time.
Woods’ most impressive putt of the day came on 17 when he nailed a 23-footer with plenty of right-to-left break to remain 1-under par heading into the final hole.
Tiger Woods drains a putt on #17 for his 2nd birdie in a row…#GenesisOpen #PGA
pic.twitter.com/tMLDHE8kT3— SportsGrid (@SportsGrid) February 17, 2023
There, Woods finished off the round by nestling a wedge shot within 7ft of the cup and tapping in for his third straight birdie in front of a packed gallery.
Despite the strong round, Woods remains a +9000 longshot to win the event.
He is currently five shots behind the lead.
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