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Tiger Woods

Tiger Tracker: Follow Tiger Woods' Thursday round at the PGA Championship shot-by-shot

Adam Woodard
USA TODAY
Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the 11th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club.

Tiger Woods is back on the course Thursday for the opening round of the 100th PGA Championship, golf's final major of the year. 

98 of the top 100 players in the world are at Bellerive Country Club this week, making this week's tournament one of the most competitive events of the season. Patrick Reed (Masters), Brooks Koepka (U.S. Open) and Francisco Molinari (Open Championship) will be playing for their second major titles of the year, while Jordan Spieth looks to complete his career grand slam. 

Teeing off on the back-nine at 9:23 a.m. ET alongside defending champion Justin Thomas and two-time champion Rory McIlroy, follow Woods' first round shot-by-shot.

Final thoughts

After starting out 3-over thru his opening two holes, getting back to even par seemed like a long shot. But in true Tiger fashion, he was able to grind his way thru the rest of his round, playing his second nine holes 2-under and bogey free. While he still looks inconsistent off the tee, his ability to make something out of nothing was on display Thursday. It's a disappointment to only be at even, but it's a great round given how poorly he started out.

We'll be back at it tomorrow for Tiger's 1:48 p.m. ET tee time.

Hole 9 - Par 4

Tiger ends his round with an iron off the tee down the left side of the fairway. His ball came up short of some fairway bunkers, and his approach safely finds the green, well away to the right. It wasn't his best effort, but hey, it's a birdie putt. This one lagged its away across the green, breaking from right to left, but didn't have enough. Tap-in par. Even par 70.

Justin Thomas: 1-under 69. Rory McIlroy: Even 70.

Leaderboard update: Rickie Fowler is in the clubhouse at 5-under par, all alone atop the leaderboard. Six players are T2 at 3-under: Austin Cook, Ian Poulter, Pat Perez, Jason Day, Branden Grace and Ollie Schniederjans.

Hole 8 - Par 5

YAHTZEE! Tiger crushes this drive, carrying 290-yards down the left side of the fairway. Decision time: to go for it in two with the 3-wood or lay it up to get up-and-down for birdie? Justin Thomas went for it: short and in-between bunkers. Rory McIlroy went for it: bunker. Tiger went for it and was walking after it with confidence, but it checks up in the rough, avoiding a bunker guarding the green and he can't believe it. Two yards to the right and this is on the green with an eagle putt waiting. His chip rolls past the green to about 6-8 feet and he sinks the birdie putt to get back to even par thru 17.

Hole 7 - Par 4

Iron down the left side of the fairway here for TW. He's in a good shape to attack the green, but leaves his approach just a bit short. He's got a little over 20-feet for birdie and almost drops the putt. Just not enough juice to carry his line. Par. 1-over thru 16.

Hole 6 - Par 3

Tiger goes long and left, missing the green and finding a short-cut collection area behind the green. He opens up the club face completely and flops this up on the green, stopping a few feet from the cup to get up-and-down for par. 1-over thru 15.

Leaderboard update: Rickie Fowler, in search of his first major title, has the lead all to himself at 5-under par. Austin Cook, Ian Poulter and Stewart Cink are T2 at 3-under.

Hole 5 - Par 4

Driver here for TW and this one is smoked. Another birdie chance to get back to even? His approach lands to the right about 10 feet from the hole. He misses the birdie chance by about two feet, dead right. Par. 1-over thru 14.

Hole 4 - Par 4

Tiger's tee shot finds the left rough just off the fairway. He got a clean strike on it and hits it on a line right to the bunker guarding the front of the green. He didn't have a lot of green to work with, but Tiger gets this up and out quick, stopping on a dime within a few feet for par. 1-over thru 13.

Hole 3 - Par 3

Useful shot here off the tee for TW, finding the green pin-high about 20 feet from the cup. He gives his birdie putt a good run but comes up just a few inches short. Par. 1-over thru 12

Hole 2 - Par 4

An iron off the tee was a beauty down the right-center of the fairway. Water down the left, so smart play too. Approach shot was right at the flag but just a little long. This ball landed about 18 feet beyond the pin and stayed there. It finished on top of a ridge, leaving a very fast putt downhill to the hole. With a pin just over water, you can’t blame Tiger for going a little long. Leaves an interesting putt, but should be par at worst. He converts for par to remain 1-over thru 11.

Hole 1 - Par 4

A driving iron off the tee with a nice lower draw finished in the left-center of the fairway. Nice work there. Another great approach. Tiger gave the signal for this one to get down, but there was no need. This one from 149 yards landed below the hole and spun and rolled to about 10 feet under the far-right pin. Tiger's putt looked like it might miss left, but took a big right turn with 2 feet to go and dropped dead-center. 1-over thru 10.

Hole 18 - Par 4

A 3-wood off the tee finished in the right-center of the fairway. Ideal. Tiger launched a beautiful approach shot right at the flag that landed 2-3 feet away and barely moved forward and finished 4 feet beyond the cup. Tiger's putt went right in. Considering how he played that nine, he’s stealing coming out of there. 2-over thru 9.

Hole 17 - Par 5

Tiger's drive found the center of the left fairway bunker. He got out clean from there, landing in the middle of the fairway on a small hill. This might be on the down-ward slope, but should't impact his shot too much. He flies this one into the green-side bunker, because why not? He gets out and flirts with the hole, but rolls on past. He's able to save the par. 3-over thru 8.

Hole 16 - Par 3

His tee shot here goes long and left, hitting the grandstand behind the green. He gets relief but doesn't seem too thrilled with his lie from here. He's got to carry about 20-30 yards to get to the green but he doesn't get there. Every shot looks like it's taking 10 years off his life. His chip from there almost holes-out for par, but he'll tap in for bogey. 3-over thru 7.

Hole 15 - Par 4

Driver off the tee on No. 15 and ... nope. Another dead miss to the left. He goes wide of the fairway bunker and into the gallery among a cluster of trees. From a thick lie Tiger got aggressive here and curved it a bit too much, catching some trees and coming down again in the rough short of the green among the gallery. He recovers well from the rough again, landing this one short of the hole and coming to rest within 10 feet.  He converts for par. 2-over thru 6.

Leaderboard update: Justin Thomas and Stewart Cink are tied for the lead at 3-under, followed by Ian Poulter, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Shane Lowry at 2-under. 

Hole 14 - Par 4

Another stinger with an iron off the tee and this one is in the fairway, left side. He finds the green with his approach, landing on the fringe and spinning back towards the hole around 30-feet. Nothing to see here, two-putt par. 2-over thru 5.

Hole 13 - Par 3

Solid stroke from TW on his first par 3 of the day. From 190 yards out he finds the green, pin-high to the left with about 20 feet for birdie. This one didn't break as much as Tiger thought and misses left. Par. 2-over thru 4.

Hole 12 - Par 4

Back to driver on No. 12 and he stripes this one down the fairway, a much-needed boost after a horrific start. He goes pin-seeking form the middle of the fairway and sticks this one within gimmie-putt range. He taps in his first birdie of the day, getting back down to 2-over thru 3.

Side note: it's a major championship and Tiger is talking to the green next to Justin Thomas, smiling and talking the whole way. Old Tiger would NEVER have done that. New Tiger's pretty fun.

Hole 11 - Par 4

Tiger hits his famous low-flying stinger with an iron off the tee and finds the left rough. Oh, no. His approach comes up short, hits a bank and kicks into the water guarding the green. He takes his penalty and goes to the drop zone, finding the green from there. He had about 20 feet for bogey and missed right. Double-bogey. 3-over thru 2. Yikes.

Hole 10 - Par 4

And we're off! Driver off the tee here for Tiger on No. 10 and this one goes right into the rough. Not a great start for TW. From the thick rough he's forced to just punch this out into the fairway. Average shot from there as Tiger finds the front of the green with a back pin placement. Nope. He immediately walked this one down, leaving it well short. The greens will be slow early on due to an immense amount of rain earlier in the week, but that was just a poor effort. He makes his putt for bogey. 1-over thru 1.

Leaderboard update: Adam Hadwin, Ian Poulter and JIm Furyk are all 2-under early on Thursday and tied for the lead.

Contributing: GolfWeek.

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