Reigning US Open champion Gary Woodland and Patrick Reed shared a two-shot lead with a matching six-under 66 while tournament host Tiger Woods was Tied-11th after the opening round of the Hero World Challenge here.
Woodland and Reed of United States gave a good account of themselves ahead of next week's President's Cup but Woods looked rusty as he stumbled on a bogey-double bogey finish for an even-par 72 on day one at a rather windy Albany Golf Club.
Woods, who will captain the US team next week in Melbourne, didn't have a good start in his first tournament since his victory at the ZOZO Championship in Japan in October.
The 43-year-old was two-over through 10 holes before birdies on 11, 13, 14 and an eagle on 15 brought him back into contention.
However, he faltered on the last two holes to have an even-par round.
"Yeah, it was not a very good start. Didn't play the par 5s well early and then got it going on the back nine a little bit. Got myself right there in the mix and then bad shots on 17, 18," said Woods, who made one of the greatest sporting comebacks with a win at the 2019 Masters, his first at a Major since 2008.
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The 15-time major winner said it was unusually windy here on Wednesday.
"No, we don't (see wind like this). Normally if it's like this, it should be a little bit cooler than this, but this is definitely a different wind. It blew hard and it was tough all day. The ball was moving a little bit on the greens and had to play for that and it was just a tough scoring day.
"Obviously Wood proved that otherwise, but I don't think there were a lot of low scores out there today," he said.
Woods was not happy with his performance but should be pleased with the opening day effort of President's Cup teammates Woodland and Reed. 11 out of the 12 team members, who are playing here this weekend.
Asked if he will be communicating with his team on the President's Cup plans through the week here, Woods said: "We have some things we need to run through the guys, some ideas. I'll pick their brains a little bit. We just want to have a clear picture of what we're going to do down there because obviously once we get down there, things roll pretty quickly."
Woods was not the only one who had a tough time towards the end as Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth finished with a quadruple and triple-bogey respectively.
Joint leader Woodland was pleased with his effort in windy conditions.
"Yeah, I drove the ball really well today. The wind's tough out there. Obviously you've got some big holes out there where you've got some tough shots, but I drove the golf ball beautifully and controlled the ball in the wind, which is what you've got to do out here," he said.
"And I saw some putts go in obviously to make a lot of birdies, made some putts, which is nice. But 54 more holes, but I like where I'm at right now," said the 35-year-old.
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