338-yard driver shot and birdies on the last three holes in a row. Tiger Woods (48, USA) dominated the spotlight in his comeback after 216 days. With a spurt at the end of the game, he recorded the number of strokes in his 60s and started the first tournament of the new year fresh.
Woods shot 2 under par 69 with 5 birdies and 3 bogeys in the first round of the PGA Tour Genesis Invitational (total prize money of 20 million dollars) held at Riviera CC (par 71) near Los Angeles, California on the 17th (Korean time). (tied for 27th). World No. 1 Scotty Scheffler (USA), who is 5 strokes behind 7-under leaders Max Homa and Keith Mitchell (USA), Justin Rose (England), who recently won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and last year’s US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick (England) and Jordan Spieth (USA), who won three major tournaments. Scheffler wrote 1 under par, Rose wrote even par, Fitzpatrick wrote 2 over par, and Spieth wrote 3 over par.
It was right after this competition that I got into a car accident in February 2021 that almost cost me my life. After undergoing leg surgery, Woods returned to the Masters in April last year and went to the PGA Championship and The Open. He has not participated in a PGA Tour regular tournament for the first time in seven months,온라인카지노 and it is the first time since the accident that he participated in a non-major tournament among regular tournaments. Woods, who gave up two months ago due to plantar fasciitis while trying to participate in an event, played 18 holes in good shape. It was only two years ago that he stood at the crossroads of his leg amputation, so it was a cautious reaction even before his successful comeback. Woods said, “I have to work hard with repeated ice packs and treatments. It will be like that throughout the night,” he said. “(Because the weather is chilly) I have to pay attention to warming up, and I’m only thinking about recovering and playing the second round in good condition.” Woods, who is also the host of the tournament, said, “It was better to be in the same group with great players and good friends (Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas). People warmly welcomed and cheered our entire group. It was a wonderful experience and even helped to shine the tournament.” “But there was no time to communicate with the audience. It was a real game after a long time, so I had to put the ball in the desired spot and focus only on the game to get the desired feeling.”
It went back and forth until the 15th hole. He started with a birdie on the 1st hole, but the approach shot around the green on the 4th hole was short, and the number of strokes reduced by a birdie on the 8th hole was lost with a bogey on the 10th hole, which moved around the bunker. Woods turned over par with a bogey on the 12th hole, but excited the crowd with three consecutive birdies on the 16th to 18th holes. The birdie on hole 17 (par 5) was the highlight. The approach shot around the green was short, leaving a long putt of over 7m. Woods smiled once after raising his finger at the enthusiastic fans.
Woods’ tee shot landed on the fairway six times (42 percent), and five driver shots flew over 320 yards. In the 11th hole (par 5), 338 yards were taken. He also finished ahead of McIlroy and Thomas in ball speed (180 mph). He had a few short chip shots, but his bunker shots were textbook.
McIlroy (Northern Ireland), who is ranked second in the world, is tied for 7th with a 4-under par, and Yon Ram (Spain), who is ranked 3rd in the world, is tied for 3rd with a 6-under par. Im Seong-jae and Kim Joo-hyung recorded 2 under par and even par, respectively.