Tiger Woods' first appearance at the PGA Championship in two years is off to a steady start.
The 48-year-old finished his opening round at Valhalla Golf Club with a one-over-par 72.
Starting the day on the back nine, Woods opened with a bogey on his second hole. He rebounded with his first birdie on the fourth hole to get back to even par.
Woods made the turn at one over after his second bogey of the round on No. 15. He got back to even with a birdie on the par-three third hole that just missed being an ace by about five feet.
A birdie on the par-five seventh hole put Woods under par for the first time at the PGA Championship since 2019, but he wasn't able to stay there to close out the day because his short game started to abandon him.
The main takeaway from fans and analysts was how Woods was able to grind his way through a solid round on the par-71, 7,506-yard course.
The day did end on a bit of a down note, as Woods needed a three-putt on his 17th hole (No. 8) that dropped him back to even par. He put himself in a rough spot when his tee shot stopped on the front of the green, just over 39 feet from the hole.
Woods rebounded with a terrific tee shot on his final hole that landed just off the center of the fairway. He got on the green with his second shot but left it 34 feet away from the cup before taking another three-putt.
This is right in line with what Woods has done this season. His first-round scores at the Genesis Invitational and Masters were also one over.
The key for Woods will be finding a way to maintain that level of performance to give himself a chance to finish all four rounds. He had to withdraw from the Genesis during the second round due to an illness.
Woods made it through 72 holes at the Masters, but he fell off a cliff during the weekend. He shot 82-77 over the final two rounds after being one over through two rounds.
Valhalla Golf Club will test Woods going forward, but the hope will be his solid opening round can propel him to a good showing over the next three days. He will start from the first tee on Friday at 1:29 p.m. ET.
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