Rory, Rickie, Can’t Take Tiger At Honda Classic

Tiger Woods waited until the 12th hour to commit to the Honda Classic.

He’s happy he did.

With steady winds and an unfriendly golf course waiting the field, Woods got out early, shot an even par 70 then went home to his Jupiter mansion to relax.

Even par doesn’t usually get much notice at a PGA Tour event but PGA National is no easy golf course.

By day’s end, Woods beat defending champion Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy, two pre-tournament favorites.

Alex Noren’s early 66 set the tone and Webb Simpson came in late to tie him for the first round lead.  With the testy conditions, only 20 players were able to break par.

There was danger lurking everywhere.  Fowler was able to find just two birdies and shot 71 for his day’s work while McIlroy’s putter continued to plague him.  To make matters worse, McIlroy went for the par five 18th in two and when his three-wood second found the water, he finished his day with a double-bogey six and a two-over par 72.

Biggest name near the top is Justin Thomas. Thomas shot 67 and was in a group at three-under with Daniel Berger, Morgan Hoffman, Mackenzie Hughes and Louie Oosthuizen.  Hughes had the days single-best run.  After starting his day with a two-over par 37 on the back nine, Hughes birdies the first four holes on the front,  pared the fifth, then added two more birdies at six and seven, going six-under through those seven holes.  He bogeyed his final hole of the day but still shot 30 on that nine.

First Round Scores: