Tiger Woods endured a moment to forget on his PGA Tour comeback after shanking an iron shot on the last hole of his first round at the Genesis Invitational.
Woods was making his first serious PGA Tour appearance since undergoing fusion surgery on his ankle last April, taking to Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles as tournament host.
Despite being widely regarded as the golfer player of all time, the 15-time major winner proved that he is still human with a drastically mishit effort that sailed off to the right and into the trees on 18.
Every golfer is prone to a shank from time to time, but thankfully for Woods, he had the quality to get himself back on track with an impressive recovery shot that helped him to limit the damage with a bogey.
All-in-all, it was a decent return to action for the busted-up 48-year-old, who ended the day on +1.
Explaining the brutal moment at the last, Woods revealed back spasms were affecting his game through the closing holes.
“Oh, definitely, I shanked it,” Woods said.
“My back was spasming the last couple holes and it was locking up.
“I came down and it didn’t move and I presented hosel first and shanked it.”
When asked to recall the last time he shanked one, Woods added: “Definitely been a while.
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“Other than trying to hit flop shots and other kinds of weird shots around the greens, not from the position I was at.”
Woods, who previously said he expects to participate in one event per month this year, added: “My back spasmed on it, it’s been spasming the last three holes, and it just locked up on me.
“We have got some treatment ahead of us and some work to do, to be ready for Friday’s round.
“But that’s just part of the deal, and I look forward to the challenge.”
Former world number one Woods hit eight fairways, 10 of 18 greens, and took 30 putts in the opening round.
“My round was good and a little bit indifferent,” he said.
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“I struggled with the speed of the greens, even though I made a few.. and was stressing out on the short game, I had maybe like five pars today.”
Woods will be back in action on Friday as he looks to be the cut and make the weekend at Riviera.
He has clearly been enjoying his return to action and even found time for an In-N-Out burger during his preparations for the competition.
Pulling up his cart by the stand on the course, Woods placed his order before tucking into his burger – but not before removing his pickles.
Listen to live coverage of the Genesis Invitational on talkSPORT 2!
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