Tiger Woods entered this weekend's PGA Championship at Southern Hills looking to capture his 16th career Major Championship. Woods previously made a miraculous return to golf at The Masters in April after missing over a year of golf. In February of 2021, Tiger Woods was in a horrific car crash that left him in need of multiple surgeries on his lower extremities. It was unknown at the time if he would ever play golf professionally again. But of course, in Tiger Woods fashion, he returned with a bang posting one of the very few under-par scores for his opening round at The Masters.

Unfortunately, he was not able to sustain that momentum and faded as the tournament went on. He took the month off to recover and prepare for the PGA Championship this week. Woods was paired with Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlory, which has to be considered one of the most prestigious groups in tournament history. The three men have 22 combined Major titles to their credit.

In the opening round though, two-thirds of the group struggled mightily. Jordan Spieth finished his day with a 2-over 72.

McIlroy, on the other hand, had a fantastic round. He entered the club house as the leader, posting a 5-under 65. He was tied with Tom Hoge and Will Zalatoris as he stared a 20-foot birdie putt down on 18, and sank it.

But Tiger Woods is of course the story. Woods and his group began his day on the back nine. He was apparently locked in early on. After his first drive of the tournament, he told the cameraman to give him some space.

Tiger birdied the par-4 10th to start his round. After three consecutive pars, Tiger Woods once again nailed a birdie putt, moving to 2-under. But that was as good as it was going to get for the 15-time Major Champion.

Woods dropped a shot immediately, posting a bogey on the par-4 15th after hitting his approach into the bunker. After steadying control with two straight pars, he found the sand again and finished his front nine (the back nine of the course) with another bogey.

Okay, no problem. He's even par as he heads to the back nine. But there were numerous shots that didn't look like Tiger. Things did not get any better, instead getting much worse on his back nine.

Tiger Woods then bogeyed again on both the par-4 1st and par-4 2nd, dropping him to 2-over.  That six-hole stretch dropped Woods from 2-under to 2-over. The future Hall of Fame golfer rebounded though and hit an excellent approach shot on 3, setting up a birdie putt that he sank. At this point he's probably thinking he might be able to salvage the round. But it was not to be.

Woods then hit another iron into the bunker on his approach on the par-4 4th. He was unable to get up and down and dropped another shot. After the first few pars in almost two hours, things got worse for Tiger.

On the par-3 8th, Woods can be seen here wincing in a lot of pain after his tee shot.

He left the shot short right into yet another bunker. His sand wedge could not save him, as his chip sailed more than 50 feet past the hole. Tiger dropped another shot to 3-over for the tournament.

He finished his round with possibly his worst hole. His tee shot on the par-4 9th faded dead right. It was so bad, it hit the top of a tree and came back to the center of the fairway. That little bit of luck could have allowed a par save or even a birdie if he were to hit a great iron approach shot. Instead, he crushed his 4-iron long. The ball was buried deep in the rough about 30 feet past the green.

Woods' chip from the rough did not even reach the green. He then hit a great chip from just off the green and rolled it to about eight feet, and sank the bogey putt.

Tiger Woods finished his first round 4-over par, posting a 74. He's not out of the tournament, but it's going to be difficult for him to climb back into contention. After his round, Woods talked about the status of his leg and what's needed to recover.

 

He went out early Thursday, during the good playing conditions. That means he will have a late tee time on Friday.

The wind is expected to pick up as the day progresses on both days. So, Woods will have to contend with cross winds during his second round. Considering that, as well as his game not being in tip top shape, making the cut could be a serious challenge.