Zozo Championship: Tiger Woods shows signs on Friday

After a bad round on Thursday, Tiger Woods bounced back with a much better round on Friday at the Zozo Championship. Much more Tiger-like.

Tiger Woods was, frankly, not very good on Thursday at the Zozo Championship. Playing on a course where he has won five times and been runner-up on four occasions, Woods struggled, and in a big way.

Woods shot a 76 on Thursday, which was among the worst scores in the 77-player field. Woods found himself in a tie for 75th place after 18 holes, having beaten only Adam Long in round one.

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But Tiger being Tiger, he would not let that happen again on Friday, especially with the friendly venue. He seemed to find something in his game early in the round and he made some Tiger-like things happen.

Woods, who is the defending champion at the Zozo Championship, started his round by just missing a birdie on the first hole, settling for par. Then, at the par-5 second hole, Woods found the rough off the tee, got back into the fairway in two, then hit his approach to four feet. He ran in the putt to get into red figures.

Woods gave that shot right back on the par-3 third hole, where he hit the green in regulation, but three-putted for bogey. He was back to even par on his round.

That bogey seemed to spark Woods. Or perhaps it made him mad. Either way, Tiger got things going on the fourth hole.

On the par-4 fourth, Woods’ approach shot landed just two feet from the cup. It was an easy conversion for birdie, getting Woods back under par.

Then, at the par-5 fifth hole, Woods hit the green in two, then needed two putts for another birdie. And on the sixth hole, it was another stellar approach, this one within four feet, that set up Tiger’s third straight birdie. He was 3-under at that point in his round and would finish the front nine with a 4-under par 32.

Woods gave a shot back with a birdie on the 10th hole, but got that shot right back with a birdie on 11. He would par the next four holes to stay at 4-under par.

On the par-5 16th hole, Woods hit the green in two and narrowly missed his eagle putt. He tapped in for birdie to get to 5-under on the day.

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Woods would birdie the 17th hole after his tee shot landed just six feet from the hole. A par on 18 gave Woods a 6-under par round of 66. Much more Tiger-like.

In the process, Woods moved from a tie for 75th into a tie for 66th. And while that does not seem like a big deal, it is a step in the right direction for Tiger, who has his eyes on next month’s Masters, where he will defend his title. And that would also be very Tiger-like.

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