It didn’t look good from the opening shot.
Tiger Woods hit an iron off the first tee and immediately grimaced.
Somehow he found a way to make four opening pars. But his face showed his discomfort and a poor warmup session foretold of what was coming.
Woods played the next five in five-over-par and the painful march was on. He struggled to hit fairways, struggled getting out of the rough. His swing didn’t have its normal speed.
“He’s swinging like he’s only got one ball left to play with,” quipped analyst Paul Azinger.
Hurting? Absolutely.
“I’m just not moving as well as I’d like,” Woods said after the day’s struggle ended with a seven-over par 78 on his scorecard, his worst-ever opening round in a major championship.
He acknowledged that he was fighting the weather and his body. “I’m sore, yes,” he said. “I’m sore.”
He hadn’t played since the U.S. Open and the big picture is beginning to show itself.
“Just the way it is. Father Time and some of the procedures I’ve had. Just the way it’s going to be,” Woods lamented.
When asked if he was coming back for his second round on Friday, Woods quickly said:
“I’ll be there.”
Woods did indeed show up for his early Friday tee time and with perfect conditions, he fared much better. While others were in shirt-sleeves, Woods stayed bundled up with a thermal undershirt and rain pants.
Woods moved better and managed to find four birdies over his first 11 holes but then settled into a par mode.
He looked tired at the end and a bogey-bogey finish gave him 70 and at six-over, they were getting Air Eldrick prepped for its return flight to Jupiter.
A tough two days for Tiger Woods.
