Tiger Woods' first round of the year at the Genesis Invitational ended in disappointment, with the 15-time Major winner hitting a shank on the 18th hole to undo much of his good work.
Woods birdied the 17th to get back to level-par for the round in what was a battle, with five birdies and five bogeys to that point. He found himself in prime position down the last to give himself a birdie look but ended up dropping a shot after a dreaded hosel-rocket from the fairway sent his ball flying off to the right and into the trees.
He progressed it just 67 yards closer to the hole and left a very tricky third shot snookered behind one of the many large trees lining the hole, or so we thought. A miraculous punch shot through a gap followed and he gave himself a putt of just 15ft for par that ultimately slid by the left.
Woods said after his round that the shank was caused by a back spasm.
"My back was spasming the last couple holes and it was locking up," he said. I came down and it didn't move and I presented hosel first and shanked it.
"It's been a while, definitely been a while [since his last shank]. Other than trying to hit flop shots and other kind of weird shots around the greens, not from the position I was at."
Watch Tiger Woods' shank:
No one is immune to the dreaded shank. Not even Tiger Woods. pic.twitter.com/6qJQY1W5yUFebruary 15, 2024
This recovery shot was class 🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/yZmnDQFmmUFebruary 15, 2024
Woods' shank came with an 8-iron, and his very next shot - the miracle recovery - was also with an 8-iron, he revealed.
"I had a small window there, 96 front, 27 total and tried to hit a punch hook 8-iron after I just shanked an 8-iron," he explained.
"I said, all right, the next shot's supposed to be the harder shot and yes, it was because I'm having to hit a little punch hook through a little gap there and I pulled it off, which is good."
Woods showed plenty of rust in his first true competitive action since last year's Masters and his first tournament golf since the 36-hole family-oriented PNC Championship in December.
He spoke in the build up to this week about what his swing focus currently is - finding the middle of the face.
"I think that more than anything, that I try and do from a technical standpoint is making sure I can still hit the golf ball flush and solid," he said.
"I don't have the same speed I used to have, I don't have the ability to practice the same amount of hours, but I still do work on making sure that I can hit the ball on the middle of the face."
Woods certainly didn't hit his approach into the 18th flush, but he'll be hoping to find the middle of the face more often on Friday in what looks to be a fight to make the cut at the Genesis Invitational.
