Tiger Woods hit 17 of 18 greens but needed 35 putts for an opening 2-under 70 to begin his 2012 season. But it could have been much better had a few more putts dropped.
Woods missed birdie putts from 5 and 3 feet at Nos. 13 and 18, respectively, to begin his round and didn’t miss a green, or make a putt over 4 feet, the rest of the way to finish three strokes behind Rory McIlroy, with whom he was paired.
In Australia, Tiger’s putting problems were mechanical, but on Day 1 in Abu Dhabi he said he hit a lot of good putts, but he just didn’t read them well. Additionally, Tiger said he struggled with the speed and grain on the greens.
Following a seven-week break, it was also a good sign that, despite his troubles with green and grain, he remained within 3-shots of the lead at what will likely be the deepest field until WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
