Woods: Fairways, Greens and Two-Putts

Tiger Woods made his long-awaited first start after his only win of last season -- and once again played well tee-to-green. His putter seemed to have jet-lag, however. That led to a 70, not bad, but perhaps not what fans were looking for. His two under round leaves him three adrift of Rory MicIlroy and Robert Karslson.

"[I] hit the ball well all day today. It was a good ball-striking round," Woods said afterward. "I had a hard time reading the greens out there. The greens were pretty grainy and I just had a hard time getting a feel for it. Toward the end I hit some pretty good putts, but overall I got fooled a lot on my reads."

Woods hit seventeen of eighteen greens in regulation, and only missed four fairways all day. Even those misses weren't wild, and he was able to recover nicely to put his ball on the putting surface -- where seemingly his troubles began. Woods' aim seemed to be just off, and the times when he had the correct line and his aim aligned, he had speed problems. "I hit a lot of good putts, I just didn't read the greens well at all,'' Woods said. "I struggled with speed. And if you struggle with speed you're going to struggle with the greens. Some of the putts, the grain snagged it hard, other putts it didn't snag them at all.

"I had a hard time seeing it. I just have to do a better job of that tomorrow. I hit a lot of pure putts. I'm not disappointed in that regard. I just did not need them at all. I just need to do a lot better job of that,'' he added.

The putting woes may be due to playing limited events the past couple of years, or it may signal that now that Woods has re-engineered his swing successfully he needs to do the same for his flatstick stroke. That's something for him and his swing doctors to determine -- and if history serves as any guide, that's exactly what will happen. One thing is certain, however: Woods days of playing with a swing as unpredictable as a mid-handicapper's seem to be a thing of the past...and given his ability to find his putting stroke when he needs it the most, it would seem that the former world's top player finally does have his game's compass pointed northwards again.