Tiger Woods made bogeys on his first three holes and then showed the massive Japanese galleries what they came to see.
The 10th-ranked Woods didn’t make a mistake the rest of the way and shot 6-under-par 64 to tie for the lead with Gary Woodland after the first round of the Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club www.accordiagolf.com in Chiba, Japan.
“I was just trying to make the turn in even par and was able to get more out of it than that,” said Woods, who was playing in a PGA Tour event for the first time in more than two months after undergoing a fifth left knee surgery in August. “I hit bad shot after bad shot at the start and was not very good.
“Then my ball-striking got better and my putting was very good, the ball was rolling tight. Every putt I made except for one was left-to-right, and low and behold, I made a bomb at No. 7. It was one of those crazy days.
“It was loud out there. I haven’t played (in Japan) in a while, but the fans are always great.”
Woods, who started at No. 10, bounced back from his stumbling start with three straight birdies through No. 16 and made three more of his nine birdies in a row through No. 5 before sinking a 40-footer at No. 7 and adding his last birdie at No. 9.
Woodland, who is trying to impress United States Captain Woods enough to choose him for the Presidents Cup in December in Australia, sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the last hole to tie for the lead after making four birdies on the front nine in his bogey-free 64.
“(Woods) knows how much I want to be on that team, I’ve talked with him about it, and I just have to play well and the rest will take care of itself,” said Woodland, the reigning U.S. Open champion. “I can’t worry about it and just have to play well.
“I tied for third last week and just built off of that. My ball-striking is back to where I want it and I played well on the greens. I just have to keep it going and try to be in contention on Sunday.”
Hideki Matsuyama, the local favorite in the first official PGA Tour event in Japan, birdied four of the first six holes and is third at 65, while Daniel Berger shot 67 and is tied for fourth with Sung Kang of South Korea and Ryan Palmer.
Eight-ranked Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State birdied the last hole for a 68 and is tied for seventh with Andrew Putnam of Pepperdine, Ryo Ishikawa of Japan, C.T. Pan of Taiwan, Billy Horschel, Joaquin Niemann of Chile and Rikuya Hoshino of Japan.
Fourth-ranked Justin Thomas, who won the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges last week, is tied for 25th at 70, while Shane Lowry of Ireland, the reigning Open champion, shot 71 and is tied for 33rd, while second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland birdied the last hole to salvage a 72 and is tied for 47th.
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