‘Super group’ fizzles as Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson struggle in opening round at Sawgrass
Woods was best of the bunch with an even-par 72 but that was only good enough to put him six shots back from the leading pack
Woods was best of the bunch with an even-par 72 but that was hardly what the PGA Tour had in mind when it grouped the best two players of their generation with the popular Fowler at TPC Sawgrass.
What started as a massive early afternoon gallery thinned out to only a few hundred spectators by the 15th hole, though considerably more waited at the island-green par-three 17th for some end-of-day fireworks.
They instead saw damp squibs, as Mickelson and Fowler both found water at the 17th for matching double-bogeys.
Woods, meanwhile, safely negotiated the penultimate hole with a par, only to yank an iron tee shot into the water at the par-four 18th, his safety-first strategy backfiring.
Woods at least gave fans one moment of excitement when he rolled in a 20-foot putt for eagle from the fringe at the par-five ninth.
“Boy, it was nice to turn the round completely around there,” he said, before assessing the gallery.