Tiger Woods shoots 69 in first round of Hero World Challenge

Kevin Casey | Golfweek

Show Caption Hide Caption Another Tiger Woods 'return' feels all too familiar Sports Pulse: It appears Tiger Woods is set to make another attempt at a comeback, but we've heard this before. Can we believe it?

Tiger Woods knows how to create excitement, and he did just that with an opening 3-under 69 at the Hero World Challenge.

Woods made his competitive return to golf Thursday at Albany Golf Course in New Providence, and he did so with flair in finishing the round just three back when he posted in the clubhouse. While it wasn’t perfect, there was plenty to like.

Here's a look at his round:

A birdie and another fist pump!@TigerWoods is (-2) as he makes his way to No. 9 at the Hero World Challenge. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/N0yrUMEYsI — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2017

Tiger Tracker

HOLE No. 18: Par 4, 470 Yards

Off the tee (3:57 p.m.): Tiger’s drive went at the way right edge of the fairway, but it gets a nice kick and stays in. He’ll have a good look going into this green.

Approach shot: With an 8-iron from 174 yards … Woods plays a nice draw but does so too much. That was the right distance but it ends up some 25 feet left of the hole in fairway but near rough. He has a good chance to get that up and down to shoot 69.

Around the green: He hits a wedge some 5 feet by the cut. He’ll have that putt coming back for par.

On the green: Nailed it. A great 3-under 69 for Woods.

Tiger on the day: 3-under 69 (T-7)

HOLE No. 17: Par 3, 184 Yards

Off the tee (3:46 p.m.): Woods liked this one, as it was right on line. But the ball comes up short, and he’ll be about 30 feet short of the hole in the fairway fronting the surface.

Around the green: He actually bellies this one from in front, and that’s very well done. This one finishes a foot short of the hole, and he’ll make par.

On the green: He taps in.

Tiger on the day: 3 under thru 17 (T-6)

HOLE No. 16: Par 4, 485 Yards

Off the tee (3:33 p.m.): Woods, now three back, takes a nice swing at this one, but it does leak right. He finishes in the waste area, but that one seems to be far down there.

Approach shot: From 142 yards in the sand, Tiger flies it some 10 yards beyond the hole and spins the ball back to some 10 feet above the hole. A bounce-back birdie is possible again.

On the green: Not a bad effort, but he hit that one with too much speed and it doesn’t take the full break. The ball misses right of the cup and scurries 2 feet by. Woods cleans up for par.

Tiger on the day: 3 under thru 16 (T-6)

HOLE No. 15: Par 5, 548 Yards

Off the tee (3:14 p.m.): Horrible swing here. Woods even yells it’s way right. That’s in some heavy brush, and it may not be found. He hits provisional down right side of fairway in case.

Second (third) shot: He finds his original tee shot, but he’s forced to take an unplayable. That’s a penalty stroke. From the waste area, he lays up into the fairway. He’ll look to get up and down from 100 or so yards to save par.

Fourth shot: Woods had a blind approach shot and his ball ends up 20 feet left of the hole, but pin high. He has that left for par.

On the green: Another bogey on a par 5 as his par effort trickles short and right. Somehow, he goes +1 on the par 5s today.

Tiger on the day: 3 under thru 15 (T-6)

HOLE No. 14: Par 4, 298 Yards

Off the tee (2:58 p.m.): Woods lays up, but that means he’s right in the fairway. Will it pay off?

Approach shot: From 88 yards, Tiger stuffs this one to about 4 feet. He might be 4 under soon…

On the green: Tiger coaxes that one in.

Tiger on the day: 4 under thru 14 (T-3)

Back-to-back birdies. 🐦 🐦@TigerWoods is one shot off the lead at the Hero World Challenge.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/4HSBUi7E0M — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 13: Par 4, 483 Yards

Off the tee (2:48 p.m.): He seemed to like this driver, but it does end up in the left rough. It only did so by a few yards, though.

Approach shot: From 113 yards, Tiger gets a solid to finish some 20 feet from the hole. The ball lands and barely kicks left, pure.

On the green: Another birdie. Tiger rolls that one in the left side and he’s heating up.

Tiger on the day: 3 under thru 12 (T-5)

Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood lead at -5.

Tiger birdies par-4 13th, has five putts on four holes on back. Fourth birdie. JT gets his turkey. He's -3 as well. — Jeff Babineau (@GolfweekBabz) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 12: Par 3, 201 Yards

Off the tee (2:38 p.m.): Tiger copies his second shot at No. 11, just a total flail right. He’s in the rough right of the green. Not awful position, but it was definitely a poor shot.

Around the green: Solid chip shot. Just a pretty straightforward one that rolls out to about 6 feet. A good recovery that will allow him a healthy chance at par.

On the green: Tiger easily rolls that one in. A nice par save.

Tiger on the day: 2 under thru 12 (T-9)

That’s a damn good save. Solid up and down. — GC Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 11: Par 5, 589 Yards

Off the tee (2:19 p.m.): That drive may have been exactly down the middle. An absolute beauty from Tiger with driver, and he should have a go at this in two.

Approach shot: Maybe Tiger’s worst full swing today. He goes at a 3-iron from 248 yards and that goes way right of where he wanted. He’s actually in the fairway around the green, but he’s short-sided with a bunker in his way. On a scale of 1-10, this is probably a 9 in difficulty for a short-game shot.

Around the green: He goes really conservative. He knows he’s chunked a couple and deliberately hits a low one that lands some 30 feet past the pin. It scurries out to some 40 feet by the hole. That’s his birdie remainder.

On the green: His long birdie putt runs some 8 feet by the cup. His comebacker from there is true. That’s a huge par, would have been pretty demoralizing to make a second bad bogey on a par 5 in three holes.

Tiger on the day: 2 under thru 11 (T-9)

Kevin Chappell leads at -5 through 15.

And #Tiger bounces back with a birdie at the 10th, having nailed a 3-wood off the tee that might have had a little extra venom with it — Bob Harig (@BobHarig) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 10: Par 4, 435 Yards

Off the tee (2:07 p.m.): Tiger comes right back with a beautiful 3-wood down the fairway. Maybe a bounce back birdie?

Approach shot: A beauty of a shot. That’s a knockdown 7-iron from 158 yards to about 12 feet. A birdie is within reach.

Related: Woods motivated by his kids in latest return to golf

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On the green: That right there looked like the Tiger of old. The putt looked like it might stay left, but it takes the left-to-right break well, as Woods uses perfect speed to get that one in the left side of the cup. Great comeback birdie. Just what he needed.

Tiger on the day: 2 under thru 10 (T-7)

HOLE No. 9: Par 5, 603 Yards

Off the tee (1:51 p.m.): Tiger bombs one down the fairway. That one carried 283 yards and appeared to roll some 30 more. He should be able to take a lash at this one in two.

Second shot: Almost his best shot of the day right there. From 282 yards, Woods blisters a 3-wood just left of the front left flag. The ball lands and almost hangs on green some 15 feet from the cup, but it does roll off low and left of the green. It appears he may have a tricky lie in or next to rough, but he can still get up and down for birdie.

Around the green: For the second time in five holes, Woods chunks a chip short of the green. He had about 15 feet for birdie from off the fringe, and then raced that some 10 feet by. The first mental mistake of the day.

On the green: From 10 feet for par … Nope. It misses low and left. He taps in for bogey, and that’s a really bad one. Still, a solid opening nine.

Tiger on the day: 1 under thru 9 (T-10)

Awful chip. And an awful word came out of his mouth. He’s in midseason cussing form. Yikes. — GC Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 8: Par 3, 216 Yards

Off the tee (1:43 p.m.): Tiger’s tee ball finds front right part of green. He’ll have some 30-40 feet for birdie.

On the green: Only perfect. A beautiful putt that sneaks in the right side. BIRDIE.

Tiger on the day: 2 under thru 8 (T-4)

Oh hell. Purely rolls in 25 footer for birdie. Somebody came to play. 2 under. — GC Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 7: Par 4, 340 Yards

Off the tee (1:23 p.m.): Tiger took a rip at that one. We even got the classic Woods recoil on that driver. He tried to drive the green and came close. It appears he’s in a left greenside bunker. This might be another opportunity to move to 2 under and within one.

Around the green: Woods’ bunker shot comes out with no spin and races some 20 feet by the cup. Another decent birdie look, but that was disappointing.

On the green: His birdie putt misses low and right. He taps in for par. Not ideal but no damage done.

Tiger on the day: 1 under thru 7 (T-7)

Pretty healthy rip for a guy with a fused lower back: pic.twitter.com/0v3A3BvGmM — Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 6: Par 5, 595 Yards

Off the tee (1:03 p.m.): Not Woods’ best. His tee shot leaks right and ends up in some of that native area sand. This hole was into the wind anyway, though, so no harm. He’ll simply lay up like he might’ve had to even with a fairway hit.

Second shot: Woods lays up perfectly into the fairway. He’ll have less than 100 yards for his third shot.

Third shot: Appears this one was 93 yards and Woods hits a wedge that lands 40 feet past the hole and spins back pin high. Unfortunately his aim was off and he’s 20 feet left of the hole. But it’s another birdie chance.

On the green: Tiger’s birdie putt hits the right side of the cup but with too much speed. The ball lips out and runs 3 feet by. He buries that and it’s another par.

Tiger on the day: 1 under thru 6 (T-6)

Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson are tied for the early lead at -3.

Pumped to be watching @TigerWoods back out there!!! — Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) November 30, 2017

Great seeing Tiger back in action he’s definitely great for the game of golf! Wishing @TigerWoods nothing but the best of luck! @TGRLiveEvents 🏆#HeroWorldChallenge — John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 5: Par 3, 180 Yards

Off the tee (12:54 p.m.): Well that one wasn’t great. That one leaks and it barely catches the green (or might just be on fringe). He’ll have what looks to be some 60 feet for birdie.

On the green: A great effort on that long birdie try. It looked like it might go in for a second but misses left and rolls some 3 feet past. He calmly rolls in that comebacker. Nice par.

Tiger on the day: 1 under thru 5 (T-5)

The wait is over. The wait is over. @TigerWoods — Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) November 30, 2017

HOLE No. 4: Par 4, 489 Yards

Off the tee (12:42 p.m.): Another solid tee shot from Woods. His opening tee shot should’ve missed the fairway, this one should’ve found it. No bother, though. Ball just trickles into light right rough. He’ll be fine from there.

Approach shot: It’s his first missed green. Woods comes up short and right as his ball doesn’t take the flyer bait out of the rough. It shouldn’t be too tough of an up and down, though.

Around the green: Oof. Woods stubs his chip and it doesn’t even make the green. He’ll have 15 feet from the fringe for par.

On the green: He buried it. And there was a fist pump!

Tiger on the day: 1 under thru 4 (T-5)

HOLE No. 3: Par 5, 572 Yards

Off the tee (12:28 p.m.): Tiger pipes one down the fairway here. May we see him going for the green in two?

Second shot: He yells at his ball to “Be good” and it is. A 2-iron from 260 yards and it finds the green.

On the green: Woods two-putts and that’s a birdie. It took three holes.

Tiger on the day: 1 under thru 3 (T-3)

Birdie baby. We’re officially back. — GC Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) November 30, 2017

HOLE NO. 2: Par 3, 187 Yards

Off the tee (12:19 p.m.): Our first par 3 of the day. Solid shot left of the pin. His 4-iron ends up 20 feet from the hole, short and left of the pin.

On the green: Woods’ birdie putt looks so good, but it just runs out of speed and misses low on the left. He taps in and that’s another simple par. Smooth start.

Tiger on the day: Even thru 2 (T-4)

HOLE NO. 1: Par 4, 423 Yards

Off the tee (12:08 p.m.): Woods’ opening tee shot leaks left but gets a great kick back into the fairway. Yes, he’s on the short grass to start.

Approach shot : From 99 yards away, Woods knocks one about 15 feet left of the hole. He has that left for birdie.

On the green: Woods’ birdie putt just sneaks by on the left. He taps in his remainder and that’s an opening par.

Tiger on the day: Even thru 1 (T-4)

***

Tiger will not tee off until 12:05 p.m. ET, but he has arrived at the course. He is paired with Justin Thomas.

Thursday's temperature in Albany is 82 degrees and there's a 2-club wind with short irons, about a 1½-club difference with the long irons, reports golf writer Steve DiMeglio.