Tiger Woods struggles in opening round at Phoenix Open

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods struggled in his first PGA Tournament round of 2015, carding a 2-over-par 73 Thursday at the Phoenix Open.

Paired with Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, Woods stumbled at the par-71, 7,266-yard TPC Scottsdale, hitting just 54.95 percent of fairways and 52.78 percent of greens in regulation.

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The short-game woes Woods experienced at the Hero World Challenge last month clearly aren't resolved just yet. Struggling with his chipping, Woods decided to putt multiple times rather than to chip, even as far away as 55 feet. 

Tiger's first birdie of 2015 came at the 470-yard, par-4 No. 5 after a 314-yard drive and a 155-yard iron shot left him with a 13-foot, 4-inch birdie putt. 

Woods' best hole of the day came at the par-5, 558-yard No. 13 where he nearly carded an albatross after a 226-yard shot with his 5-iron came up just 7 inches short. The ensuing eagle was his first on tour since his last PGA tournament victory, the 2013 WGC Bridgestone in Akron, Ohio (43 rounds).

After getting booed in front of over 20,000 fans at the most raucous hole in professional golf, the 16th, Woods smashed a 340-yard drive onto the par-4 No. 17 green. At pin high, Woods was left with a 20-foot, 1-inch eagle putt which he left 6 inches short. 

Woods and company will be back in action Friday in front of the wild Scottsdale fans who on Thursday broke a one-day attendance record of 118,461, demolishing the previous record of 88,113. 

Woods will be back at 9:57 a.m. ET on Friday for Round 2. He's currently T-106 as he walks off the course.

 

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