Omega Dubai Desert Classic – Woods saves par with an eagle
World number-three Tiger Woods failed to impress the crowd in the initial stages of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, but managed to eagle the closing hole to brag about his revival.
Woods, who has won at the Emirates Golf Club twice, kicked off at a slow pace. He bogeyed the first hole after missing the par putt at the first green and decided to go slow. Despite the change of plans, the American dropped another shot at the third hole
and faltered further behind. However, he managed to reach the green of the sixth hole within two shots and birdied the first hole of the tournament.
He smacked the tee on the par-3 seventh hole into the rough on the right. This made him wedge from outside the green, which eventually led to another bogey. Woods wrapped the first half of the round with a score of two-over-par.
However, on his way to the back nine, Woods shared a long conversation with his caddie Steve Williams and drafted another game plan. He birdied the bunkered green of the tenth hole and smashed another accurate tee shot at the following hole. Woods managed
to hit the green in regulation and rolled a five-foot birdie into the hole.
On the next hole, Woods ironed the third shot for the green, but the ball rolled back, because of the wind. Woods putted for par, but missed the chance and had to settle for a double-bogey.
Woods seem not in the mood to spoil his scorecard with a score above par. Therefore, he fired a 250-meter tee shot on the following hole. The ball left Woods with 110 meters towards the green, which ultimately helped reel a birdie at the thirteenth hole.
This left Woods eight strokes shy of the leader, Rory McIlroy. Woods parred the next four holes before firing a fabulous seven-foot eagle at the 18th hole and wrapped the day with a score of one-under-par. Woods was the sixth player to reel an eagle on
the hole.
Woods was surprised by his vibrant strike, which made the crowd cheer at their loudest. On his way to the clubhouse, Woods said, “I had 254 (yards) to the hole and had to take something off it. I threw it up in the air and it was perfect.”
Despite the happy ending, he was not satisfied with his putting. He said, “I started putting awful and I struggled with my trajectory.”
Tags: