Tiger Woods started the Arnold Palmer Invitational as the favorite to win for a record ninth time at Bay Hill. After 18 holes, Woods has again shown how different this comeback is from the prior failed attempts. He co-led the API walking off the course after a wild opening 18 holes that put him at 4-under.
Tiger Woods rolls in 71-foot putt on the way to Arnold Palmer Invitational lead
Tiger was back at Bay Hill for the first time in five years and he promptly went back to igniting the crowd and storming the leaderboard.
Tiger’s round featured a bit of everything and was not some clean loop around a Bay Hill setup he’s owned over the course of his career. His driver was a mess again, as he missed it both ways and all over the property. Sometimes it even went off the property. His drive at the 3rd hole, his 12th of the round, was blocked some 25 yards right and went bounding off a cart path out of bounds. The mis-hit and bad bounce left him muttering f-bombs on his way back to re-tee for what would become a double bogey.
In the prior failed comebacks, a double bogey and the constant wildness with the driver would left him undone. There was just no coming back from the crooked numbers and wayward drives. Every shot was a grind and posting some 2 or 3-over number was exhausting. This Thursday, Tiger responded with three birdies in his next four holes to immediately climb back up the leaderboard.
The late birdie run crescendoed with a 71-foot bomb that left Tiger smiling like a giddy child. This kind of red number is gravy -- your make percentage from this range is minuscule but Tiger hit a perfect putt that went right in the back of the cup.
It was an absurd putt but it’s the kind of magic that Woods would hit once a tournament when he was at his peak. Now he’s hitting that again and taking up residence on the first page of PGA Tour leaderboards.
The vintage stuff on Thursday was Tiger ripping through the par-5s. He used to dominate those holes and it’s so often how he would get a lead and then put insurmountable distance between himself and the rest of the field. The surprising part of this comeback is that his par-5 scoring has been underwhelming. He’s been competitive while still throwing shots away at those critical birdie opportunities. That changed in a big way on Thursday.
Tiger will now have a full day until he tees off in the afternoon wave on Friday. It’s possible he heads to the range and tries to work on something with the driver. That needs to get better, or just stay in the bag altogether. He’s hitting driving irons almost 300 yards as it is and with much more accuracy. It wouldn’t be the worst strategy to just hammer those low stingers off the tee as much as possible.
There’s an entire afternoon wave of players that still have to play the first round, but Tiger’s 4-under 68 number should hold up and stay near the lead. Just like last week, this is more about holding it together and getting ready for the Masters than it is actually about leading or winning. Right now, Tiger looks as good as he has in years.
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