Tiger Woods showed all-too-obvious signs of rust in his return to tournament golf today, starting with a first-round 76 at Torrey Pines in San Diego on the opening day of the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour.
Playing the south course, Woods reached one-under through 11 holes but dropped five shots in four holes on the back nine including a double bogey at the 15th, where he hooked his drive into a hazard.
He is tied-133rd through a round, and at four-over will need to pick up at least four shots on the easier north course tomorrow to make the cut.
He hit just four of 14 fairways today but had company in Jason Day, the Australian who also began slowly with a one-over par 73.
"I didn't really hit it that good," said Woods. "The greens were a little tough. I had a round I let slip away in the middle part of the back nine. It's weird to say this, but we were playing — it seems — slower than I'm used to. We played really quick at Hero [World Challenge].
"Hero's just a little bit slower. It was just weird. Honestly, it was weird waiting that much. I'm not used to doing that at home. I guess we're flying a little quicker in this. It's just a different rhythm. We're out there talking most of the day, just trying to kill time."
The best Australians were Marc Leishman and Cameron Percy, who began with rounds of 69, and they are all chasing Englishman Justin Rose who carded a 65 on the north course.