When the ‘Emperor’ returned, the gallery gathered. The US Professional Golf (PGA) tour was buzzing with excitement. ‘Emperor’ met the expectations of cloud spectators with three consecutive birdie putts.
‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (48) dominated the gallery in his return match after 7 months. He drew cheers by catching a birdie on the first hole before his comeback, and received a flash baptism by catching three birdies in a row when he was in danger of falling to the middle or lower 1-over par. The smile on his lips represented satisfaction, and the galleries who flocked to see the emperor responded with cheers even though he complained of shoulder pain from holding his cell phone above his head.
On the 17th (Korean time), on the first day of the PGA Tour Genesis Invitational (total prize money of $20 million) held at the Riviera Country Club (par 71) in Pacific Palisades near LA, California, USA, Woods changed 4 birdies and 2 bogeys to place 27th. departed as a group. Although he was 5 strokes behind leading groups such as Max Homa (7 under par, 64 strokes), considering that he completed the round on foot after 7 months, it is a good start.
The PGA Tour reported that Woods’ tee shot speed was measured up to 180 miles per hour through social network service (SNS). The driver’s tee shot at the 9th hole (par 4) flew 323 yards, drawing admiration. He demonstrated his crisis management ability, such as showing a sharp approach from trouble shots, raising expectations that he would recover his skills comparable to his heyday. 먹튀검증
Woods, who caught a birdie in the first hole, missed a par putt in the 4th hole (par 3), but caught a second birdie in the 8th hole with a sharp wedge shot. Woods, who finished the first half with under par, failed to save par on holes 10 and 12 (par 4 above) and switched to over par. After catching his breath, Woods caught a 2m birdie on the 16th hole (par 3) and then made a 7m long putt on the 17th hole (par 5) to return to under par. Woods, who gained momentum, caught a 2.5m birdie on the 18th hole (par 4) and finished the round with a cycling birdie.
Woods said, “It was bumpy, but I finished it in a good mood by catching birdies on the last three holes. He still rounds worrying about his physical condition, but is focusing on regaining his former senses. It is a process of getting used to the atmosphere and sense of the competition,” he said with a satisfied expression, “I felt that ‘I can still do it’ with today’s game.” He said, “Perhaps it was a long-awaited event, the cheers of the fans were louder. Woods laughed, saying, “I tried not to lose my mind.” “Especially on the last hole, it feels like I poured all my concentration with the conviction that I had to catch a birdie unconditionally. I didn’t want to be a stupid host,” he joked.
Woods, who had a successful first day back, expressed his intention to spend time checking his ankle condition. Woods, who said, “I will not recover to the level before the accident,” said, “I have no choice but to go back to the hotel, apply ice, and hope that my fatigue will recover by tomorrow morning. Through the competition, we will focus on proving that we can get out of the rehabilitation process and recover our performance.”
Woods’ return match was crowded with cloud galleries. Some players had to go through the hardships of moving for the next shot, squeezing through the crowds to see Woods. When Woods entered the tee box, a rare scene was created where he could not clap his hands because he was filming with a cell phone. It was the scene on the first day that allowed us to feel once again how great Woods’ box office performance was on the PGA Tour.