Tiger Woods, eyeing a return to the No. 1 position in the golfing world, fired a 3-under 69 and rests four shots behind leader Justin Rose after the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Country Club in Orlando.
Woods has won this tournament seven times and has himself well-positioned after Day 1. The No. 2 player in the world behind Rory McIlroy said he did not play his best, but he managed his way around the course well enough to be right there.
He made an eagle, four birdies to counter three bogeys in his round that started early Thursday. Most encouraging was his continued solid putting that was on display at the WGC-Cadillac Invitational, where two weeks ago he had a career-best 100 putts over 72 holes.
“I played all right today. I didn’t hit it my best, that’s for sure,” Woods said. “But I scored well. I took care of the par-5s, but I didn’t birdie them the way I like to. I hit some bad shots, but was fortunate to get the ball on the green and make a putt.”
Woods played the par-5s in 5 under par — he was 14 under on those holes last year. He hit 12 of 18 greens in regulation and had a respectable 28 putts.
A couple of early par-saving putts and a 12-footer for an eagle at the 16th hole (his seventh) got Woods to 3 under before consecutive bogeys at the 17th and 18th holes. He then made birdies at the fourth, fifth and sixth holes before missing the green at the par-3 seventh and failing to get up and down.
Woods was playing for the first time since winning his 17th World Golf Championship event and 76th PGA Tour title two weeks ago at Doral.
A victory at Bay Hill would move Woods to No. 1 in the world for the first time since Oct. 31, 2010 — when he dropped from the top spot for the first time in over five years. McIlroy is not playing at Bay Hill.
Rose shot a 7-under-par 65.
