Tiger Woods opens the PGA Championship with a disappointing 77
Tiger Woods stood on the last hole of the day with his head facing towards the ground as he saw the huge pack of spectators abandon him on the first day of the PGA Championship after he posted a score of 7-over-par, 77 – his worst ever score.
Woods returned to the course after a period of 12 weeks, as he was ruled out to play owing to a lingering knee injury. The rust on his swings was evident, but the way he missed the fairways and stumbled on the greens was disappointing to say the least. Fans
knew it wasn’t the same, it wasn’t someone they once referred to as ‘the Tiger.’
The winner of 14 majors came to Atlanta with a hope to revive his game, but his weak putting and loose iron play led him to the other side of the sea. He teed off from the back and clamped three birdies in five holes, which gave the crowd a reason to believe
that the Tiger was back. For some, this was the revival of the former world number one and for some, their money spent on the ticket paid off, but they were misled.
His best shot was witnessed on the 14th hole, when he drove the second shot into the bunker and retrieved it for a beautiful birdie.
Things started to slip out of hands on the par-3 15th hole, when Woods drove the ball into the left bunker. The shot pushed the water out of play, but laid a very tricky path for a par. The veteran retrieved the ball from the sand, but had to
settle for the first double bogey of the day.
This was probably the turning point for Woods. The veteran carded one more double bogey alongside a bogey to seal the back at 37.
Disaster waited for the four-time PGA champion on the front, as he dropped seven shots against a single birdie and saw the crowd walk away with disappointment.
Woods is 7-over in the opening round and needs a double digit figure in the second round to make the cut or else this will be the first time in his professional career that he misses a cut in a major.
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