Thursday 1 December 2016 23:27, UK
Tiger Woods was happy to get 18 holes of competitive golf under his belt as he reflected on his mixed opening day of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Woods showed little signs of rust as he stormed into a share of the lead on four under after only eight holes at Albany, but he struggled to keep his ball in play on the back nine and two double-bogeys over the last three holes saw him return a disappointing 73.
The 40-year-old had made an encouraging start to his first competitive round since the Wyndham Championship in August last year, following a birdie at the third with three in a row from the sixth as he showed glimpses of the form that earned him 14 major titles in his illustrious career.
But he blotted his card with four sixes as he paid the price for a number of wayward drives, although his iron play and short game looked in excellent order considering his lengthy absence from the game.
"All in all, I felt pretty good," Woods told the Golf Channel after his round. "It could have been something really good, but I found three bushes and had a water ball today. I got off to a nice solid start but then made a few mistakes and I didn't play the par fives well in the middle part of the round and consequently got it going the wrong way."
Woods, who admitted he was surprised at how quickly he managed to feel comfortable on the course, added: "I let a good round slip away at the end, some bushes and some rocks and it can go sideways," added Woods.
"By the time I hit my second tee shot, I found the flow of the round. That came pretty fast after not playing for 16 months.
"I just made some really silly mistakes, mistakes I don't normally make, but I haven't played in a while. I can clean that up. We've got three more days, and the wind is supposed to pump on the weekend and I'll be playing a little bit better.
"But all in all I feel good and I am looking forward to another three days. I just need to keep playing, my feel just has to keep coming back. It felt good to have that adrenaline surging through the system again - it's been a long time.
"To get up there on that first hole and feel it again and then dumb it down to be able to control it and get into my feel where I play my best that was nice. I got it pretty quick."
Live coverage of the second round from the Bahamas starts Friday at 6pm on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf.
