WINDERMERE, Fla. – From snap-hooking his opening drive out of bounds to a bad case of the chili dips, Tiger Woods struggled to take his game from the range to the course in his first competitive round since August.

Woods didn’t make a birdie until the 12th hole Thursday en route to shooting 5-over 77 in the first round of the Hero World Challenge at Isleworth Golf and Country Club. Woods trails first-round leader Jordan Spieth by 11 strokes and was four strokes higher than any of the other 17 players in the field.

“It’s weird,” Woods said. “I didn’t think I hit it that bad. My short game was awful.”

That was putting it mildly. Woods chunked four chips and failed to escape from a bunker on his first try. It was unlike anything we’ve seen from Woods before.

There were some familiar moments, too. Like old times, Woods backed off his opening tee shot at the click of a camera. Then he tugged his tee shot out of bounds into a resident’s backyard. It got only worse from there. Woods opened with consecutive bogeys and made a double bogey at No. 8 on his way to a 41 on the first nine.

The worst of it occurred at the eighth when Woods’ tee shot screamed left into the trees. He begged for it to “get down” before yelling “fore.” The ball barely stayed in bounds, stopping a few feet from a metal gate protecting a lavish home. Woods attempted to punch a low shot toward the green, but he caught a branch and his ball ricocheted to the right. His next shot sailed long. Then Woods chunked his first chip of the day.

Woods made his lone birdie at the 12th hole, sucking a wedge back to kick-in range that nearly trickled in for eagle. But that was the lone highlight. Though his ballstriking improved on the second nine – he hit every fairway, including several missiles with his driver – his putter and short game betrayed him. Woods had three more birdies putts inside 10 feet on the back nine and couldn’t convert.

Forget all the talk about his swing changes. Woods always has had a knack for getting the ball in the hole. Not today. His chipping looked like the soccer dad he says he’s been while rehabilitating his ailing back. Woods wasn’t in the mood to relive his mishaps, either, other than to say, “Well, it certainly is surprising that I could hit chips that poorly. I flubbed them. What was it, three of them I flubbed?”

Actually, it was four, but who’s counting? At the par-5 13th, Woods reached the green in two, but the ball lacked the steam to climb to the upper terrace and rolled back off the green and into a collection area. He chunked his first attempt and stubbed his second before switching to a different wedge and escaping with bogey.

“Hit two of the best shots I could possibly hit on 13 and I walk away with a 6,” he said.

The par-5 17th was almost a repeat. From another collection area that demanded a delicate touch, he flubbed his fourth chip of the day. Woods said it wasn’t a case of rust, noting that he has a practice facility in his backyard.

“So I can’t say it’s from a lack of practice,” he said.

Jason Day, who played a practice round with Woods on Monday and was paired with him in the first round, witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly. “Monday, he was chipping fine. It was on point,” Day said. “It was surprising today to see him stub a lot of chip shots. Uphill and into the grain is very difficult, but to see that many out of Tiger Woods is very surprising.”

Woods’ performance was reminiscent of his struggles when he made a comeback from microdiscectomy surgery earlier in the year at the AT&T National in July. Big picture, it’s important to remember that it was just one round, and it’s a long time until he plays at Augusta in April. If there were any positives for him to take away from such a deflating day, it was this: “I have zero pain,” said Woods, who played in only seven Tour events last season, and none since missing the cut at the PGA Championship in August. “I haven’t said that in a long time, and so that’s very exciting to be able to step up there and hit the drives I hit, especially on the back nine and start launching it and feeling nothing.”

Woods sounded like so many beaten golfers before him when he summed up his first round succinctly: “It was one of those days where nothing went my way.”