Tiger Woods is back. His swing isn’t quite there yet.
Woods, making his first start of the season, opened with a 3-under 69 on the North Course at Torrey Pines on Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open. Healthy for the first time in three years, Woods’ offseason work with new swing coach Sean Foley showed in spots. The world’s No. 3 hit just four of 15 fairways but did hit 15 of 18 greens.
“It feels good,” Woods said. “Obviously we need more work, but it’s progressing, which is good. … [We did] a lot of talking about the swing and the mechanics and the feel and where I need to go and where I’ve been.”
Woods has been dominant at Torrey Pines, winning seven career tournaments there, including the 2008 U.S. Open. Heading into Friday, though, he is five strokes behind the leader, rookie Sung-hoon Kang of South Korea.
“I’m happy with the way I played, absolutely,” said Woods, he played bogey-free. “It could have been a lot better if I took care of the par 5s a little bit more.”
