Tiger Woods falters late, cards 1-over 72 at PGA Championship - ESPN

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tiger Woods was 1 under after 16 holes of his opening round at the PGA Championship on Thursday, a good start in his attempt to stick around for the weekend at Valhalla Golf Club.

But Woods, a four-time PGA Championship winner, carded bogeys with three-putts on each of his last two holes for a disappointing 1-over 72.

Woods was tied for 59th when he walked off the course, 10 strokes behind clubhouse leader Xander Schauffele, who posted a 9-under 62 to match the lowest round in a major championship for the second time in his career.

Woods said he «three-whipped» his last two holes, the par-3 eighth and par-4 ninth. On the eighth, he pulled his tee shot and his ball stopped 39 feet left of the hole. He blasted his putt about 10 feet past the cup, then his next one stayed low. A bogey dropped him back to even par.

On the ninth, Woods hit his drive to the left side of the fairway. He had 144 yards left to the hole and hit his approach shot to 34 feet. He three-putted from there, too.

«Wasn't very good,» said Woods, who was playing in a tournament for the first time since the final round of the Masters on April 14. «Bad speed on eight; whipped it past the hole. And nine, hit it short. Hit it off the heel of the putt and blocked the second one. So [it] wasn't very good on the last two holes.»

The disappointing finish came after one of the highlights of Woods' round — a birdie on the par-5 seventh. His approach shot over water landed in a greenside bunker, and he chipped out to 13 ½ feet and made the birdie putt to move to 1 under.

Woods started his round on No. 10 and made the turn at 1-over 37. He had bogeys on Nos. 11 and 15 but made an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 13.

The fifteen-time major champion had a