Tiger Woods ruins strong first round with sloppy finish at PGA Championship

Woods recorded five straight pars as he made the turn to the front nine, then showed some signs of life with a dart to five feet on the par-3 third hole to set up an easy birdie. Another birdie on the par-5 seventh hole moved him to 1 under par through 16. Then, disaster struck.

Woods hit a mediocre shot to 40 feet on the par-3 eighth hole, and he blew his first putt nine feet past and missed the come-backer. After setting up a 34-foot birdie on the par-4 ninth, he left his first putt six feet short and missed again for to post a pair of three-putt bogeys to finish up his day with a 1-over 72.

In an instant, Woods went from 1-under to 1-over due to two sloppy mistakes. He dropped from a tie for 22nd place to a tie for 58th in those two holes and is only going to drop further down the leaderboard as more players get started. 

The biggest issues for Woods in the first round were his driving and chipping. He hit only 9-of-14 fairways while averaging just 294.3 yards off the tee and he lost .887 strokes from around the green through the early wave. The highlight of the round was actually his putter, as Woods made 93 feet of putts and sunk a few clutch par putts to keep his momentum rolling.

It was an encouraging start to the week for Tiger – especially because he looked comfortable walking up and down the slopes of Valhalla – but those two mistakes on the green could cost him a chance at the weekend.