Tiger Woods shoots 69 in first competitive round since Open Championship, 5 off lead

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Tiger Woods returned to the golf course Thursday for his first competitive round of golf since the British Open in July, and the 15-time major winner did not disappoint. 

Woods shot a 2-under, 69 on Thursday at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles, ending the day just five shots off the lead. 

Tiger Woods chips a shot during the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 16, 2023, in Pacific Palisades, California. (Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour via Getty Images)

Woods finished his round with a bang, sinking birdie putts on the final three holes, and will enter round two tied with 16 other golfers at 2-under par. 

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"I didn't want to be the idiot host to miss it right in front of everybody after I just went birdie-birdie," Woods said of his birdie putt on No. 18, according to ESPN. "It was a great round."

Max Homa and Keith Mitchell sit atop the leaderboard at 5-under, with Jon Rahm, Matt Kuchar and Collin Morikawa not far behind. 

Tiger Woods smiles and raises his putter after making a birdie putt on the 17th hole green during the first round of the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 16, 2023. (Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

In his first competitive round in seven months, Woods drove the ball off the tee well, going over 330 yards on his drive three times. 

"There's nothing like come game time, just the feeling of the butterflies and trying to calm all that stuff down," Woods said. "Even though it's cold out here, [the ball] was going even further than we expected. I had to dial all that back in."

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