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Tiger Woods opens Hero World Challenge with up-and-down 73

Published

9 years ago

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Any breakdown of Tiger Woods’ first competitive round since the Wyndham Championship in 2015 is relative to expectations. Of course, opinions regarding what would constitute a success for the 14-time major winner in his opening round ranged from “leading the tournament” to “not getting carried off in a gurney.”

Fortunately, with respect to the second extreme mentioned, Woods round was a success. He suffered no apparent issues with his surgically repaired back. And with respect to the first, Woods tied the first-round lead with his birdie at the eighth hole, although that was his high-water mark on the leaderboard.

The easily digestible version of Woods’ opening round: He was 4-under par through eight holes, but he struggled to keep his head above water after that point. He bogeyed two par fives, carding a sloppy double bogey and finding the water with his tee shot at the closing hole en route to another double. Ultimately, Woods finished the day at 1-over, second to last in the field of 18.

With regards to Woods’ full swing, his action looked a little longer and smoother with a little less right side through the ball. We’ll leave the more in-depth analysis to the Tom Stickneys and Dennis Clarks of the world, though. (For his part, Brandel Chamblee found plenty to criticize in Woods’ full swing).

Off the tee, Woods looked to favor the draw but missed left several times, both narrowly (as with his opening tee shot), and more widely (as he did at the 10th, 14th and 18th holes). A few piped drives, such as his bomb at the par-five 15th, were good to see. On his iron approach shots from the fairway and on par-3s, he worked the ball both ways and varied trajectory, showing an encouraging amount of control.

Looking like an assassin in head-to-toe black, Woods’ only real hiccup on the front nine was a flubbed pitch from short of the ninth hole. He stumbled a bit during the middle portion of the round, making two bogeys in three holes from Nos. 9-11, but managed to avert round-derailing disaster until a double-bogey six at the 16th that went all kinds of wrong after a drive that found the fairway.

The WRX audience was no doubt keen to see how Woods would perform with the TaylorMade M2 in the bag, replacing his Nike Vapor Speed Prototype. Likewise, the M1 fairway woods and the 79-time Tour winner’s return to Old Reliable, his Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS, which largely served him well.

Related: See the clubs Tiger has in the bag this week

And, of course, the equipment change that played a starring role in every shot: his switch to the Bridgestone B330s. You look at something like his controlled approach from 96 yards with wedge at No. 7, as well as the roll out on a couple of long early pitches, and you can draw the conclusion that Woods is pretty comfortable with the ball. Certainly he tried to play a variety of approach shots, with largely positive results.

Here’s how TW’s scorecard looked.

Screenshot (150)

But more excitingly, from a visual standpoint, here are the highlights. This tidy pitch from behind the green at the par-five 3rd led to Woods’ first birdie of the round.

Woods’ second stellar mid-iron approach on a three-shotter, this at the par-three 12th.

A beautiful par-saving putt after making a mess of the 298-yard par-4. Woods pulled his drive left into the waste area, went over the green from a hard-packed lie, then hit a sub-standard bunker shot to the fringe.

And Woods’ assessment of his opening-round 73

“I hit the ball in three bushes and a water ball today. It could have been something really good. I got off to a nice solid start and made a few mistakes there and consequently got it going the wrong way.”

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Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

35 Comments

35 Comments

  1. KEN jOHNSTOM

    Dec 2, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    There is no doubting that Tiger is amongst the greatest golfers ever and can still entertain and play some excellent shots. However, J.B., Henrik, Hideki, Dustin, Bubba, Rickie, Jordan, Patrick et al do not deserve to be relegated to having us watch only a couple of their putts, whilst we watch replay after replay of the guy who after all finishes second last in the field on the first day . He did well today, but is still in the middle of the pack. Get over him and show us the leaders TODAY please!!!!! I don’t want to watch Tiger mopping his brow or why he chunked a chip to the green for the second or third time, when I can be watching live golf. It was wonderful watching lots of different golfers when he was indisposed. PLEASE get us back to that scenario.

    Reply Report comment

  2. Andy C

    Dec 2, 2016 at 3:46 pm

    Looking at Tiger on TV now, to my eyes, he looks smaller. Maybe he lost some weight/muscle, or maybe wearing a bigger shirt. Less of a body builder like builds will suit him better. Only time will tell, but too much muscle can’t/couldn’t help with flexibility and his back before.

    Hope that he will make some noise this year. Always fun to watch him on Sunday late afternoons.

    Reply Report comment

  3. Double Mocha Man

    Dec 2, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    A 65 today! Good for Tiger. I think he’s a more mature, more humble, more cheerful, more human guy these days. Hard not to like the guy again. But when he took off his cap on the 18th the dude’s got quite the bald spot. Happens to the best of us… though not to me.

    Reply Report comment

  4. Mongoose

    Dec 2, 2016 at 2:05 pm

    How many of us have a foundation that gives millions to kids, golf is a game, period…

    Reply Report comment

  5. Mongoose

    Dec 2, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    Who moves the needle more than Tiger, maybe Rory, or Day? Zero Americans… I would love to see Tiger make his competitors melt under his pressure. All the US players have bromances, zero fire… I miss that…

    Reply Report comment

  6. You like Dak

    Dec 2, 2016 at 1:15 pm

    Tiger Woods 79, You ?

    Reply Report comment

  7. Keith

    Dec 2, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    To everyone bashing tiger please list your top 5 greatest achievements in your life or career and let us compare… Do any of you have majors? Pga tour wins? A billion dollars? Hmmm???? Don’t think so. Since most of us play golf because of this man and his greatness you should all quiet down and be thankful and happy he’s back playing

    Reply Report comment

  8. TexasSnowman

    Dec 2, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    As mentioned in the article, I would like to hear from Someone(Tom S?., Dennis C?, Cross field?) other than Brandel on Tigers ‘new swing’…..Brandel seems to think his right elbow is ‘behind him’ too much and he will need to rely too much on timing to be consistent, also that he is too steep, especially in the short game if I heard correctly. His First round was a 73 that should have been a 68; granted he stumbled at the end, but thats gotta be more encouraging that a scrambling 73 that should have been a 77.

    Reply Report comment

  9. Rors

    Dec 2, 2016 at 11:40 am

    Tiger has earned the right, let it happen, and for you all experts out there that can’t break 80, shut up…

    Reply Report comment

  10. Smokin' Gun

    Dec 2, 2016 at 11:30 am

    Let history decide, not some “never was” on the golf channel. The morning drive is bearable only because Gary W, Charlie R, and Chris DM, others are hacks…

    Reply Report comment

  11. Looper

    Dec 2, 2016 at 11:16 am

    Way to many Brandel Chamblees’ in this forum…

    Reply Report comment

    • Par4

      Dec 2, 2016 at 11:24 am

      I will admit I’m a huge Tiger “golf” fan. I was glued to my TV yesterday from start to finish. At one point I muted the comments of Mr Chamblee, I get it, that’s what he is paid to do, but really!!! He was over the top critical of Mr Woods play yesterday. Tiger himself can’t live up to tiger of yesteryear, we all are aware of that. But IMO I feel to critique in that fashion you have to be at the level of the person you are talking about. I would understand Jack, or Arnie, maybe Lee, but who in the world is Brandel…

      Reply Report comment

  12. Leon

    Dec 2, 2016 at 10:51 am

    The M1 may serve him better. The M2 has too much draw basis. It is a great club, high launch, low spin, better sound and feel, plus very forgiving. But it is just overly early to turn to the left.

    Reply Report comment

  13. Mike Ryan

    Dec 2, 2016 at 10:27 am

    He’s done!

    Reply Report comment

  14. Dat

    Dec 2, 2016 at 9:10 am

    Fair assessment for once.

    Reply Report comment

  15. ooffa

    Dec 2, 2016 at 9:00 am

    Maybe next week he can play in an event with only 10 players. That way he can have a top ten showing in at least one tournament this year.

    Reply Report comment

  16. Bert

    Dec 2, 2016 at 8:53 am

    Interesting until he went south. Hope he plays well and not chunk another chip as he did yesterday He’s not in last place and only 1-shot behind many others. My bet is he’ll finish in the middle of the pack.

    Reply Report comment

  17. Double Mocha Man

    Dec 1, 2016 at 11:01 pm

    Hey… Tiger beat the Olympic Gold Medalist.

    Reply Report comment

  18. Guia

    Dec 1, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    Not a great day and he has always been renowned for erratic driver play. A 73 after a 16 month layoff from competition isn’t that bad for the first day. The field has only 18 players and he is in 17th place. However, he is only 1 stroke worse than: Bubba Watson E F E 72 — — — 72
    T12 —
    Brandt Snedeker E F E 72 — — — 72
    T12 —
    Zach Johnson E F E 72 — — — 72
    T12 —
    Patrick Reed E F E 72 — — — 72
    T12 —
    Brooks Koepka E F E 72 — — — 72
    17 —
    Tiger Woods 1 F 1 73 — — — 73
    18 —
    Justin Rose 2 F 2 74 — — — 74

    Guys that have been playing regularly. Not a bad showing, he had I think 2 balls in the water and 1 unplayable lie and still managed a 1 over par.

    I assume that there is no cut, it should be very interesting how he finishes out the week. If he could get to the middle of the pack I would consider it a very successful start.

    I think we are all waiting to see how long physically he can endure. Anyone notice how lean he looked?

    Reply Report comment

    • Uhit

      Dec 2, 2016 at 5:18 am

      I´m surprised how well he started the front nine…
      …and I guess, he was just to nervous to keep this level up.

      He probably has to learn (mentally) to accept, that he can compete successfully again.

      Great to see him smile again!

      Reply Report comment

  19. erlybrd

    Dec 1, 2016 at 10:01 pm

    The game of golf will go on with or without Tiger. It had its moments in the sun with the rise of Tiger Woods, but it is now time to be in the shadows with other “sports” such as bowling and billiard.
    It is a great game whether it’s cool or not, or with or without Tiger Woods.

    Reply Report comment

  20. The Truth

    Dec 1, 2016 at 9:35 pm

    I agree Steve. Tiger is going to keep on stinking up the joint until the back goes. I can’t wait to hear the excuses. Tiger is going down, like the syndrome.

    Reply Report comment

    • Tal

      Dec 2, 2016 at 4:29 am

      The lack of respect for Tiger as a golfer from some people is incredible. He’s a hall of game golfer who has had multiple surgeries and yet people choose to belittle his achievements by attacking his swing and his recent form. There’s never any consideration for how mentally tough it must be to see this level of decline in your game and how frustrating it must be to come under constant fire, especially when idiots like you talk about him as if he has no right to be out there!

      Reply Report comment

      • satch_boogie

        Dec 2, 2016 at 1:26 pm

        Totally agree with this. Arguably the best player ever to play. I want to see him out there playing.

        Reply Report comment

      • Double Mocha Man

        Dec 2, 2016 at 2:15 pm

        I think for most people the lack of respect comes from his cheating on his wife 100’s of times. Few people, self included, disrespect his golf game.

        Reply Report comment

    • skip

      Dec 2, 2016 at 10:25 am

      wow. classy.

      Reply Report comment

  21. Den

    Dec 1, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    I would think Tiger has herd all he wants to hear about the golf swing…after 79 tour wins I would think it is time for all “Instructors” to just drop it…if Tigers swing does not do it for him so what, he has already gained status as one of the best to ever play the game.

    Reply Report comment

    • Tony L

      Dec 1, 2016 at 7:34 pm

      Totally agree. All the stinking experts no one has even heard come out of the blue when Tiger tees it up.

      Reply Report comment

  22. Golfbuddy

    Dec 1, 2016 at 6:01 pm

    He’s not, and nobody expected him to be, the same player he was, pre-injuries. Given the media microscope on him, and the changes he had to make, he did pretty well. I hope he’s around for the final day.

    Reply Report comment

  23. Patricknorm

    Dec 1, 2016 at 4:45 pm

    Regardless of what you think of Tiger it’s kind of inspiring to see an athlete that was clearly the most dominant in golf, fallen because of multiple back surgeries, play some decent golf today. He seemed to be sweating profusely not because of the heat, but because he was churning inside. Still a really up,and down round but given his injury history, I’d take a plus one result any day.
    Like the announcers said many times , Tiger is the needle.

    Reply Report comment

  24. alexdub

    Dec 1, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    Considering he was sweating like he was on day two of a detox, +1 isn’t that bad.

    Reply Report comment

    • Boobsy McKiss

      Dec 2, 2016 at 12:21 am

      LOL. I did notice the sweat pouring off his grill. Were the other competitors sweating as much?

      Reply Report comment

    • Par4

      Dec 2, 2016 at 11:34 am

      I noticed that also, wow looked like he went thru a car wash at times…

      Reply Report comment

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

on

May 12, 2026

By

Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

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Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

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