Woods Cards 74 in Return to Competition


In his first tournament since March, Tiger Woods posted a 3-over 74 in the opening round of the Quicken Loans National. The $6.5 million Tour event, which benefits his Tiger Woods Foundation, teed off Thursday at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

Playing in the same threesome with Gary Woodland and Y.E. Yang, Woods carded four birdies and seven bogeys on the par-71 layout. Starting play on the 10th tee, all of Woods' bogeys came on his first 12 holes. He rebounded, though, with three birdies to close out the round.

Woods, who been in rehab since undergoing back surgery on March 31, made a surprise announcement earlier this week that he'd be playing in the National this week, which he won in 2009 and 2012.

"I think the hard part was just getting into the rhythm of playing competitively," Woods told PGATour.com. "You play with your buddies all day for cash and stuff but it's just not the same. It's not the same as tournament golf, different level. Adrenaline is rushing and I hit the ball further out here than I do at home.

"It, unfortunately, took a while to get the feel for it. My feels were off."

As expected, Woods said he was rusty Thursday. "I made so many little mistakes," he said. "So I played a lot better than the score indicated, which is good."

However, he was very pleased that his back held up for the full 18 holes. "I had no issues at all," he said of his condition after undergoing a microdiscectomy to relieve a pinched nerve. "No twinges, no nothing. It felt fantastic."