Gritty Woods inside the cut line at Torrey Pines

It looks as though fans at the Farmers Insurance Open will be seeing Tiger Woods over the weekend.

Published : Jan 27, 2018 04:45 IST

Tiger Woods in action at Torrey Pines
Tiger Woods in action at Torrey Pines
lightbox-info

Tiger Woods in action at Torrey Pines

Tiger Woods found some form on his back nine holes and looks likely to make the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open on Friday.

The 14-time major champion, starting at the 10th, shot a level-par 72 in round one, and was staring down the barrel of a weekend exit having reached the turn at two over par.

However, Woods showed some neat touches with the wedges to hit four birdies and just one bogey on the way home, leaving him one under for the tournament.

With the projected cut line at one under, Woods is set to tee up the final two rounds at Torrey Pines on his first competitive outing since February having returned from a fourth major back surgery at last month's Hero World Challenge, an unofficial PGA Tour event.

There were further signs of the struggles off the tee and with the irons that were evident in round one as Woods scrambled to save a couple of pars in the early holes.

And he found big trouble at the 13th - his fourth – as a huge hook required a drop shot, and he failed to get up and down from the side of the green for bogey to fall to two over.

Woods continued to struggle for fluency through the rest of his first nine, but a huge putt from the fringe at his 10th hole saw him gain a stroke back.

A neat chip led to another gain at the par-five fifth, before more excellent short-game work led to a three-foot birdie at the seventh that left Woods under par for the first time during the tournament.

The pressure told at his penultimate hole as a mishit tee shot and thick chip saw him drop back to level par.

But Woods still had a par five to go and a monster second shot took a fortuitous bounce to land on the green, where he two-putted to return to one under.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment