Tiger Woods goes in his car to help BMW championship

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania – Tiger Woods' comeback season has improved from what he might have hoped for 17 months ago during his fourth operation to repair a weakened back. There were some brilliant late charges on the leader board, five finals and one last exciting day of the P.G.A. Championship, when Woods shot his last lowest lap ever in a major, sending the galleries into a frenzy while he finished second behind Brooks Koepka.

But the victory escaped him for several reasons: precision at the beginning, first lethargic rounds and, perhaps, the most delicate situation.

So before the BMW Championship this week, Woods found an old friend in the back of his car, the Scotty Cameron putter he had used for 13 of his 14 major championships.

With his 19-year-old putter, he set his sights on Thursday in the first round of the BMW, the third of four playoffs FedEx. He made several long putts and covered his first nine holes at Aronimink Golf Club in 29 shots, his lowest total of nine holes in a 11-year PGA Tour event. He finished the day tied with Rory McIlroy for the eight-under 62 lead, one shot ahead of Xander Schauffele.

It was Woods' lowest round relative to parity this year, surpassing his seven under 65 in the third round of the World Championship, and it was the first time since the second day of the 2015 Wyndham Championship, where he finished in 10th place.

"I'm a little tired," said 42-year-old Woods. "It will be nice to jump into a small ice bath or some sort of cooling thing."

In the first 45 rounds of the PGA Tour, players with at least first place in the first round won nine times.

"It's a good start," said Joe LaCava, Woods junior, "but there is still a long way to go."

His prudence was understandable. Aronimink reported many low scores on Thursday, and 48 of 69 players broke the record.

Before Thursday, Woods had only shot once in his last 11 laps. He was two more after his first four holes at the Dell Technologies Championship last week and three more after two holes at P.G.A. Championship last month. In Woods' first 16 starts this year, her 71.13 average was one to three strokes higher than her other innings.

So when he launched a 20-foot birdie putt at his first hole on the 10th, "that certainly helped," La Cava said.

After being misplaced on the greens in the first heat two weeks ago, Woods changed gear for the second time, which did not help much. Scotty Cameron is out.

For Woods, returning to the old putter was like Linus Van Pelt rediscovering his blanket. "My body remembered the feel of this putter and the way it swayed, and I just let them rip the greens," he said.

Woods' second and third birdies were on 13 and 10-foot putts, and he took a total of 27 putts in Thursday's heat.

McIlroy, who escaped Woods at the end of the day to win the Arnold Palmer Championship in March, defeated seven groups behind him and was well aware that Woods had seven goals less than 10 holes. "He did it too, obviously," said McIlroy, who has won six consecutive birdies to reach nine under his 14th hole.

McIlroy, 29, took over where he stopped on Wednesday morning, where he made seven consecutive birdies in his second game.

Woods credited his quick start to skip the pro-am. Instead of having a long run with amateur partners in a scorching heat, Woods took the time to play sports, received physical therapy and spent hours watching the tennis blanket in the United States.

"I needed a day off to recover and make sure I was fresh for today," Woods said, adding, "Disappointed, I did not play in the friendly match, but again, it was the best thing for me. "

Woods sweated through four swimsuits in damp conditions, but his swing was clear. He hit his first 13 greens in regulation, and after missing one, he almost hit his next shot. He was driving the ball so well that after some of his swings he did not try to see where he landed. He simply left his driver near his bag as if it were a microphone.

"My speed, my rotation, so many different things that have evolved throughout the year and have improved," said Woods, who is looking for his first win since August 2013.

Aronimink is a new playoff site, but he is familiar with Woods, who hosted his tournament here in 2010 and 2011. He played the event in 2010 and finished tied for fourth place.

The first round of the BMW coincided with, later in the evening, the first game of the Philadelphia Eagles defense at the Super Bowl Championship. As Woods made the rounds, Golf Channel was starting to track his progress towards a possible under-60 score, and his gallery added two Eagles fans.

Michael Smyth, who had a replica of defensive tackle Eagles Fletcher Cox, and his colleague Jason Oprishko, who had a replica of quarterback Carson Wentz, followed Woods before going to Lincoln Financial Field for the first game against the Falcons d & # 39; Atlanta.

"Best Thursday ever," said Oprishko.