Hero World Challenge: Tiger Woods to play with Justin Rose in Round 2

Alec Brzezinski

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Hero World Challenge: Tiger Woods to play with Justin Rose in Round 2 image

Tiger Woods and Justin Rose are at the bottom of the leaderboard at the Hero World Challenge, but they will get a chance to change their fates together.

Rose is last in the field after firing a 2-over 74 on Thursday — he is dealing with a back injury — and Woods collapsed with two double-bogeys on his last three holes to shoot a 1-over 73.

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The two played a practice round together with Derek Jeter earlier in the week, so they should be comfortable with each other. 

Woods birdied four of his first eight holes Thursday, but he played the next 10 holes in 5 over. He looked sharp from the fairway and around the greens, but his wayward tee shots got him into some trouble.

After the round, Woods said he could have done something special, but he's still happy with his first competitive round in over a year. Expect the former world No. 1 to rebound in Round 2 as his putting and driving accuracy return to form.

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With seemingly the entire world watching the 14-time major champion play his first round since the 2015 Wyndham Championship, Woods responded with a birdie on the par-5 third hole, then three straight from holes 6 though 8.

The wheels fell off a bit on the ninth, when Woods lost his drive left, chunked a chip and eventually bogeyed. He continued his struggles on the back nine with another bogey on the par-5 11th hole.

Woods came back with a birdie on the par-5 15th hole after hitting a marvelous 7-iron from the fairway. He narrowly missed his eagle putt on the high side after watching Patrick Reed miss his putt low from a similar line, but tapped in to get back to 3 under.

That, however, was the last positive hole Woods played. He immediately double-bogeyed the par-4 16th hole despite drilling a drive down the fairway. Woods then two-putted for par on 17 and made a mess of the closing hole.

Entering the final hole at 1 under, Woods lost his tee shot left into the pond on 18, dropped, lost his third shot right, then failed to get up-and-down ultimately settling for another double-bogey to finish with a 1-over 73.

Woods said before the tournament he just started walking 18 holes, so fatigue could have played a factor in the poor finish to his once-promising round. 

"I had some awkward shots, there's no doubt about it. All in all I feel pretty good," Woods said on Golf Channel after his round. "I felt the competitive flow early in the round, by the time I had hit my second tee shot I was already into the flow of the round."

There were still a number of positives to take from the day. Woods was dialed in with his irons all day, and, as mentioned, he looked sharp around the greens, save for the poor chip on the ninth hole. Though he missed a couple tee shots wide left, few were far off line and he didn't miss a fairway to the right all round.

Rust clearly played a factor Thursday, but it appears Woods is in line for a successful comeback barring another injury.

Alec Brzezinski