PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — With scrutiny higher than ever after the worst tournament of his career, Tiger Woods settled down after a shaky start Thursday and didn’t make a bogey until his final hole for a 2-under-par 70 to join the assault on TPC Sawgrass.
J.B. Holmes and Robert Allenby led the way at The Players Championship at 6-under 66, a stroke ahead of eight players, including Lee Westwood and Kenny Perry.
“I had myself a few chances in there to make some putts, make some birdies, and didn’t really do it,” Woods said.
In conditions with only a swirling breeze late in the day, 36 players broke 70, the most for the opening round of the tournament since 1994.
“It was a fun day, one of those rounds where everything was going pretty good,” Holmes said. “It’s kind of one of those rounds where it’s not easy, but it felt pretty easy.”
Allenby played in the afternoon, when the breeze kicked up, and had only one lapse with a three-putt on the par-3 eighth.
Kim could miss three months.
Anthony Kim, who won the Houston Open last month, had surgery on his left thumb that will keep him out of the U.S. Open and possibly the British Open this summer. Kim is expected to be out for 10 to 12 weeks.
