Tiger Woods opens 2015 Masters with wild front 9

We’re halfway through one of the most anticipated Masters opening rounds in a long time and Tiger Woods has not been an embarrassing mess! Woods, who we last saw crippled trying to hit some of the game’s most basic chip shots, made the turn in 1-over 37.

Of course, Tiger’s front nine was not an unqualified success. He missed fairways, hit some loose iron shots, had an ugly 3-putt, and hit two poor chip shots. It’s the last part that was most concerning coming into the Masters. We’ve seen him chip on the practice range all week without incident, but obviously a competitive round was going to be a new test.

After smashing a 325-yard drive at the 3rd hole, Woods crushed a chip shot from just off the green some 20 feet past the cup. He airmailed another wedge at the the 4th, when this blast out of the sand flew over everything.

That led to a bogey, his second of the day after a 3-putt on the first green.

So far, this is not the same Woods we saw in two earlier tournaments this year, when he was so scared of chipping the ball that he would use 4-irons and putters from off the green. But this is the Tiger that we’ve seen for the past couple years -- wild off the tee, inconsistent with his irons, and undependable with his putter. He’s pulling off the occasional recovery shot that makes your jaw drop, like this violent and aggressive cut shot at the 7th. But he’s also bombing the ball way off line and putting himself in tough spots.

That happened on his last hole of the opening nine, when Tiger hit one so far right he had to try and play it down the 1st fairway. Jim Nantz said he’d never seen a player take that route and have to hit his second shot from so far back. As soon as the tee ball left his club, Woods knew it was gone and held a Statue of Liberty pose in horror.

Despite that horrendous tee shot, his worst swing on the hole may have been his second shot. Playing from back up the adjacent 1st fairway, Woods completely blocked a fairway wood back into the trees. He was pretty far away but had a relative open path if he could have just put an average swing on it. Instead, he immediately shot it back to the right and had to scramble just to get a bogey.

It was a disappointing finish, but based on where we are with Tiger at this point in his career, the opening 9 has to be considered an improvement. He definitely won’t win with that game but at least he’s not in last and he’s not making you cringe every time over a chip shot. Here’s the card so far (via PGATour):