Golf: Tiger Starts Off Alone After Rose Exits With Sore Back

NASSAU, Bahamas, Dec 2, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 02nd Dec, 2016 ) - Tiger Woods, returning from a 16-month layoff following back surgery, teed off first but alone and in last place in Friday's second round of the Hero World Challenge after England's Justin Rose pulled out.

Rose, who captured Olympic gold at Rio in August, withdrew with a bad back after shooting a two-over-par 74 in Thursday's opening round of the 18-man invitational event at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas.

Former world number one Woods, a 14-time major winner who has slid to 898th in the rankings, stumbled to an opening 73 Thursday to end a 466-day layoff, the longest idle spell of his career. Woods, who turns 41 later this month, began four under through eight holes Thursday to share the lead but closed with double bogeys on two of the last three holes.

That set him up to play alongside Rose in round two, but instead Woods went off solo in cloudy, warm and windy conditions with about 200 people watching and promptly birdied the 423-yard opening hole.

Starting solo was not a first for Woods, who went off first and alone in the final round of last year's Memorial tournament after firing a career-worst 85 the day before. Woods shot a two-over 74 in that solo effort.

Until Thursday, Woods had not played a competitive round since August 2015, when he shared 10th at the PGA Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has not won an event since the 2013 World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone and has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open.

Woods hosts the 18-man Challenge on the 7,302-yard Caribbean course at an isolated billionaires enclave. The field features six of the world's top-10 players over an Ernie Els-designed layout with native sand and brush lurking for wayward shots.

Woods, whose 79 career titles are three shy of Sam Snead's all-time record, showed flashes of top form early Thursday and appeared fine physically, his swing and chips and putting solid early. "All in all, I feel pretty good," Woods said Thursday.

"I let a really good round slip away at the end." As for the late collapse in round one, Woods blamed that on shotmaking errors rather than fatigue. "I just made some really silly mistakes, mistakes I don't normally make, but I haven't played in a while," Woods said. "We've got three more days. Wind is supposed to pump on the weekend and I'll be playing a little bit better."