Tiger Woods suffers late collapse as Woodland and Reed lead Hero World Challenge
Chris Myson
December 4, 2019 21:55 MYT
December 4, 2019 21:55 MYT
Tiger Woods fell away in the closing stages to end round one of the Hero World Challenge six shots adrift of joint leaders Gary Woodland and Patrick Reed.
U.S. Open champion Woodland and Reed led on six under par after shooting rounds of 66, with Chez Reavie two strokes off the pace in third position.
Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson were all in contention on three under, with defending champion Jon Rahm one shot further back.
Woods, meanwhile, ended the day on even par in a tie for 11th place as he played for the first time since his win in Japan at the Zozo Championship in October.
Hosting the event at Albany, in the Bahamas, Woods selected the pairings and had many of his USA players for next week's Presidents Cup playing alongside each other.
It looked like Woods would end Wednesday's play in touching distance of the leaders after recovering from a two-over-par front nine to gain five shots in as many holes in a supreme stint, capped by chipping in for an eagle on the 15th.
"Another Tiger moment."@TigerWoods chips in on the 15th. pic.twitter.com/mL3FAAy4P8 — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 4, 2019
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But he dropped a shot on 17 and then three-putted on the last for a double bogey as he fell away.
Earlier, he had enjoyed an amusing moment with playing partner Thomas by mocking the length of the world number five's drive.
Age is just a number. Just ask @TigerWoods. pic.twitter.com/kZec6UqeCX — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 4, 2019
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Woodland's impressive round in windy conditions included eight birdies to ensure he led the 18-man field along with Reed, who had four consecutive birdies on 13, 14, 15 and 16.
Reavie, a late replacement for Dustin Johnson, overcame a double bogey on the ninth to put himself firmly in the mix at an event which Woods has won five times, but not since 2011.
It was a day to forget for Tony Finau, with last year's runner-up recording a seven-over score of 79 that contained a triple bogey on the eighth to sit bottom of the leaderboard.
Tied for the lead.@PReedGolf cards five birdies on the back nine at the Hero World Challenge to tie Woodland's opening-round 66. pic.twitter.com/CCEVn7UE4c — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 4, 2019
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