Tiger Woods struggles in opening round at Northern Trust

Since winning the Masters in April, his 15th major victory, Woods has missed the cut at the PGA Championship and British Open and finished T-21 at the U.S. Open.

The 43-year-old made the turn at a four-over 39, and at one stage found himself at T-58 among 58 golfers on the course.  

Tiger Woods limped to four over par halfway through his opening round at the Northern Trust on Thursday, though managed to recover slightly on the back nine to card 75.

Woods teed off early in New Jersey with no fans in attendance due to damage caused by storms, but gave himself little chance of making the cut with a front nine marred by three bogeys and a double bogey, only offset by a single birdie.

The 43-year-old made the turn at a four-over 39, and at one stage found himself at T-58 among 58 golfers on the course.  

A birdie at the start of the back nine offered some hope, but Woods then missed a clean-up par putt from three feet two holes later.

Since winning the Masters in April, his 15th major victory, Woods has missed the cut at the PGA Championship and British Open and finished T-21 at the U.S. Open.

He entered the week just inside the top 30 at number 28 on the FedExCup points list. He is assured of playing in next week's BMW Championship in Boston, which is for the top 70 players in the points standings.