Tiger Woods was five-under par as he walked off the golf course Saturday at The Farmers and had one simple goal — “double-digits under par.”
As in double-digits in the red come Sunday afternoon at Torrey Pines.
Woods out-played just about all the contenders over the final 18 and by day’s end, closed with a fashionable 67 to finish 10-under par in his return to the PGA Tour.
“Each day I got a little better — it was nice,” Woods said, flashing a huge smile.
His final round started without much fanfare. Playing the back nine first, he turned even par and needed a low number on the front to reach his goal.
“Nice to shake of some rust and see what I have to work on,” said Woods, who hit 15 greens on the day. “I know the putting will come around. It was one of those weeks I just didn’t see the lines. I got fooled a lot, I called Joey (LaCava) in to help and he got fooled too.”
Despite 30 putts on the day, Woods put together a run of five birdies coming home including back-to-back at the eighth and ninth to finish his day and shoot 31.
Woods said he wants to improve his iron play between now and his next start, which will be in Los Angeles in three weeks at The Genesis.
“I need to work on getting my irons hole-high,” he pointed out.
Woods also threw some doubt on his schedule after The Genesis. The following week is the first WGC event of the year — WGC Mexico — and Woods gave no indication that he is certain to play.
