Tiger Woods made his first appearance since the Open Championship in July 2022 today at the Genesis Invitational.
If you throw out the majors and limited-field events, this is his first start since the 2020 ZOZO Championship.
He closed out his first round of competitive golf in over six months with three consecutive birdies to shoot a two-under 69.
It's been difficult to put any expectations on Woods' rounds since the car accident that kept him away from professional golf for well over a year.
Woods played in three events last season and made the cut in two out of three. However he had to withdraw from the PGA Championship after the third round due to foot issues.
After shooting 69 today, Woods is tied for 27th and well inside the cut line heading into Friday.
"There's nothing like come game time," Woods told the media after his round on Thursday. "Just the feeling of the butterflies and trying to calm all of that stuff down. The ball goes further even though it's cold out here."
If there were any nerves, Woods didn't show it. He was bombing drives past his playing partners Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, throwing fist pumps and laughing and chatting with his playing partners.
Woods' odds to win the tournament have been on a roller coaster throughout the week. He opened at 150-1 at BetMGM and closed at 125-1 before the tournament.
That continued throughout the first round. As he walked to the No. 16 tee at +1 for the day, his odds sat at 250-1. After closing with three straight birdies, Woods moved to 80-1 to win the Genesis Invitational at BetMGM.
We could be in for a wild ride this weekend.
