Golf:Tiger Woods returned to one of his happiest hunting grounds today and enjoyed himself again. With a three-under-par 69, Woods, recovered from the ankle injury which led to him pulling out of his last PGA Tour event a fortnight ago, was only one off the early clubhouse lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
The former world number one, making his last appearance before The Masters in two weeks’ time, is a six-time winner of the title. With his only dropped shot coming as a result of three-putting the short 17th, Woods will draw a lot of confidence from a round that was four strokes better than that of Phil Mickelson.
England’s Justin Rose, winner of the recent WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami, matched Woods’s score, while Ernie Els — hoping to move into the world’s top 50 and qualify for Augusta with a top-three finish — returned a 71. Graeme McDowell, the only Irishman in the field, was among the later starters.
Nick Watney set the clubhouse target with a 68. Woods topped the leaderboard when he birdied three of his first six holes, reaching the green in two at both the 12th and 16th and making a 32-foot putt on the 15th.
Turning in 34, another birdie was there for the taking on the 561-yard fourth, but he three-putted that for par before an 18-footer two holes later made some amends. Playing partner Els, who blew last week’s Transitions Championship with two closing bogeys, started with 10 successive pars, then had a hat-trick of birdies to move into contention.
Going in the water on the 555-yard sixth led to a six, he dropped another shot at the eighth and then on the last missed a four-foot birdie chance to bring back memories of his sad finish on Sunday.
Rose, trying to make it four European wins in a row in America, was one over after five, but sank a 22-foot putt on the 15th and then had three more birdies in four holes from the fourth. If he can win again Rose would go to a career-high fourth in the world behind Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood.
Mickelson had double bogeys on the 18th and third, but finished with three birdies in six holes to repair a lot of the damage. Former Ryder Cup team-mate Anthony Kim reached four under after a hole-in-one at the 17th, but had to settle for a 69 after a closing bogey.
