Woods struggles to find consistency in PGA Tour return at Riviera

The 15-time major champion, who hadn't played since withdrawing from the third round at the Masters last April with painful plantar fasciitis, teed it up for the first time in 2024 at the Genesis Invitational at The Riviera Country Club, where he had to work to salvage a bogey at 18 after shanking his second shot from the fairway.

"Oh, definitely, I shanked it," said Woods, adding that back spasms that he's subject to since spinal fusion surgery contributed.

"My back was spasming the last couple holes and it was locking up," he said, noting it had been some time since he'd hit a shank -- especially from a perfect position in the fairway.

Woods made a classic recovery, punching another eight-iron through two trees to limit the damage and was eight shots off the early first-round lead held by Patrick Cantlay when he walked off the course.

He said his right ankle, surgically fused in April to reduce pain from the injuries he suffered in a 2021 car crash, held up as well as he expected.

"Foot's good. Leg's a little bit sore, things are a little bit sore, but that's to be expected," Woods said. "That's nothing that we weren't prepared for."

Woods seemed to be walking with more ease than he did at this tournament last year and as always drew a large and rapturous gallery.

After playing what he called "soft" tune-up events at the Hero World Challenge and alongside son Charlie at the PNC Championship in December, Woods admitted to some early-round nerves and said his game lacked "sharpness."

"A lot of good and a lot of indifferent," he said.

"It was one or the other. I don't know how many pars I had, wasn't many," added Woods, who finished the day with five birdies and six bogeys. "I was either making birdies or bogeys and just never really got anything consistent going today.

"I struggled with the speed of the greens," said Woods, who hit eight of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens in regulation and needed 30 putts.

"I couldn't believe how fast they were today even though I made a couple. I ran a bunch by the hole today, it was very stressful."

Woods said in December that he hoped to be able to play one tournament a month this year, and he admitted Thursday that he doesn't yet know if that schedule will materialize or whether it will give him enough competitive rounds to build the consistency he'll need to contend.

"I'm hoping that's the case, hoping that I play that much," he said.

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