Tiger Woods Stumbles Late But Should Make Cut In PGA Tour Return

We are just a hour away from the return of Tiger Woods to a regular PGA Tour event? Excited?

Kuchar (remember him?) leads

Matt Kuchar leads the way on 6-under-par from the early starters. Of the 64 on the course only 20 are under par, so conditions could be tricky.

The Last Time We Saw Tiger

The last time we saw Tiger Woods in a pro event was at The 150th Open at St Andrews in July 2022, where of course he got an incredible and emotional send off from the crowd.

30 MINS TO GO

Woods is warming up on the range with just half an hour left until go time.

What do we think he'll score today? My hunch says 3-or-4 over par and I'd be surprised if he makes the cut, but I really do hope I'm wrong. So good to see him back.

GOLF MONTHLY'S ANDY WRIGHT IN LA...

TIGER WARMING UP

WOODS' RIVIERA HISTORY

Tiger famously made his debut here in 1992 aged 16, having attending this tournament (the old LA Open) as a child.

As a So Cal guy, Woods has incredibly never won at Riviera Country Club.

WOODS' PRE-TOURNAMENT CONFIDENCE

HOVLAND'S UNIQUE LINE DOWN 15

In non-Tiger related news, check out this line Viktor Hovland takes off the 15th tee, purposely playing into the 17th fairway just like he did last year...

WOODS ON THE PUTTING GREEN

The 15-time Major winner, with his Scotty Cameron in hand, goes through his final pre-round prep on the practice putting green.

LIMP WATCH

I'll try and keep you updated with how Tiger moves today. Might have a slight limp but that's nothing out of the ordinary.

AND THEY'RE OFF

McIlroy pipes a fairway wood down the left side of the fairway - looked an absolutely beautiful swing.

Thomas up next... he misses the fairway with a fairway wood.

Tiger hits a little fade down the right with a fairway wood and just misses the fairway.

SMARTPHONES...

FIRST PGA TOUR (REGULAR EVENT) SHOT IN 844 DAYS!

Cool stat from the PGA Tour...

TIGER'S FIRST SHOT IN COMPETITION OF 2023

WOODS' SECOND SHOT

From 222 yards away out of the rough, he muscles a long/mid-ish iron up to somewhere near the front of the green. Should have a simple pitch shot to leave a good look at birdie.

MCILROY WITH A BEAUTY

From 194, Rory hits a high, towering iron shot into the 1st and will have a very good look at eagle from around 15ft past the hole. Probably a 3 wood - 7 iron into the 1st here, easy birdie hole for the world's best.

GOOD BIRDIE LOOK FOR TIGER

Woods hits a gorgeous little pitch and run, and he'll have some 4ft for birdie at the 1st. Very nice.

BIRDIE FOR TIGER

Very easy 4 for the 15-time Major winner. One-under thru one. McIlroy and Thomas also birdie the 1st.

HOLE 2

McIlroy goes a bit left, JT straight down the middle and Tiger hits a bit of a pully-cut down the left. Only a yard or so off the fairway, should be no bother.

WOODS' BIRDIE PUTT ON 1

Never in doubt.

WOODS GIR ON 2

From 192, he pushes it out right a bit but the contours help it back onto the green, just about. Probably around 30-40ft for birdie.

TRICKY PAR PUTT COMING UP

From 41ft Tiger gives it a good go up the hill but runs it by around 4-5ft to leave himself a nasty downhill left-to-righter to save his par.

PAR ON 2

Dead centre. One-under thru 2.

WOODS PIPES IT DOWN 3

That was a much better swing from Tiger. He munches one 302 yards through the air and finds his first fairway of the day. Will have a mere flick of a wedge into the 3rd.

Elsewhere, Max Homa finishes up with a 64 to lead at seven-under-par.

HUGE GALLERIES AT RIVIERA

Unsurprisingly, everyone and their dog are out watching Tiger, Rory and JT.

Check out the scenes on the 1st tee:

WOODS' WEDGE INTO THE THIRD

After 331 off the tee, Tiger's wedge from 112 is pretty poor. Comes up a good 30ft short.

WOODS' BIRDIE LOOK AT 3

He leaves his downhill right-to-lefter just short, perfect with the line but one or two rolls short. Tap in par. Still one-under.

TOUGH PAR 3 4TH HOLE NOW

231 yards into wind after a good 5-10 minute wait. Play is going to be fairly slow by the looks of it and at least a 5-hour round.

FROM 231...

Woods just misses the green to the right but no trouble at all with the pin left and plenty of green to work with. Looked a very nice swing with a long iron. All good.

TIGER WOODS WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

Click the link above or the image below if you're wondering what Tiger is gaming at the moment. A full bag of TaylorMades barring his iconic Scotty Cameron. Bridgestone ball.

CHIP ISN'T GREAT

Woods comes up at least 10ft short I reckon. Not the best. Going to leave a lot of work to clean up for par.

TIGER BOGEY

His par putt at 4 is bang on line but comes up just shy. Back to even. Bit of rust shown there.

BIRDIE CHANCE COMING AT 5 MAYBE?

Beautiful dogleg-left par 4 measuring just 416 so Tiger will be coming in with a wedge most likely. Let's see where his tee shot ends up...

IT'S LEFT

Woods goes for a stinger draw and he pulls it down the left. Looks to have gone down a hill slightly so could be tricky - maybe not a birdie chance.

WILL TIGER WOODS MAKE THE CUT?

Here's what our Instagram followers are thinking...

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THE LIE WAS BAD

Ball was basically waist-high, not really the kind of shot you want to see Tiger hitting with his injuries. Gets it into the front-left bunker.

BUNKER SHOT WAS GREAT

From 30-40 yards, the 'hardest shot in golf', Woods picks it beautifully and it eventually nestles to within 5ft. Tricky little par putt coming up and boy would it be nice to see it go in.

WHAT A PAR

Woods cleans up on 5 and that's a very nice save. Missed the fairway left, missed the green short and gets it up-and-down from the sand. Level thru 5.

SHORT LEFT ON SIX

Woods' tee shot on the iconic par-3 sixth comes up just short, left. Should be fine but will test the short game skills again.

WOODS' DRIVE ON 3

This was the 300+ yard carry, 180mph ball speed tee shot on 3 from earlier...

TIGER'S AWKWARD LIE ON THE 5TH

This where Woods' pulled tee shot ended up on the 5th. Great par save after getting this into the front-left bunker.

TEXAS WEDGE ON SIX... AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL

He opts for the putter...and nearly holes it! Superb.

Came through about 5-10ft of fairway up the hill with a big swing to the right and it nestles up to within a foot. Easy par in the end. Still level.

HOW'S HE WALKING?

Not great according to Golf Monthly's Andy Wright, who's following Woods/McIlroy/Thomas on the ground at Riviera.

Hardly a surprise I guess but it doesn't seem to be affecting his golf.

SO GOOD TO SEE HIM BACK

BUNKERED AT 7

Woods takes out a fairway wood off the short par-4 7th and just tugs it left into the sand. Doesn't look great from the one angle I saw on TV but fingers crossed it's not too bad.

Should be left with around 130-140 in I'd imagine.

MCILROY IN CLOSE

Rory stiffs a wedge and will most likely get to two-under.

JT is three-under but has hit a shocker with his gap wedge, pushing it well right of the green into the trees. "That's about as bad a shot I've seen Thomas hit," Nick Dougherty says on Sky.

WOODS FROM THE FAIRWAY BUNKER...

From 127 yards (lie is all good) Woods hits a beauty! It almost threatens the hole and zips back and right to leave a 10 footer for birdie. Beautiful.

TIGER'S WILD PAR ON THE 5TH

WOODS FOR BIRDIE ON 7...

Oooh! His right-to-lefter just slides by, grazing the hole with slightly too much pace. Solid par.

I must say, I'm very impressed with Woods so far.

JT/RORY UPDATE

Thomas bogeys 7 to fall back to two-under. His wedge found the bunker in the end.

McIlroy's four footer slides by to remain one-under.

WOODS FINDS THE FAIRWAY DOWN 8

A lovely little fade off the left-hand bunker finds the fairway with driver.

McIlroy dropped his driver in disgust after a 300+ yarder that just missed the fairway left. 

LEADERBOARD:

WOODS' APPROACH INTO 8

From 113 yards he floats a wedge in there hole high and it stops on a dime. Oh yes!

Tap in birdie coming up and Tiger will be under par again. That was gorgeous.

WOODS' BUNKER SHOT ON 7...

This was from earlier, the putt just rolled by on the high side:

MCILROY'S 'BAD' DRIVE

This was the drive I mentioned just now where Rory dropped his driver... It went 339 yards.

WOODS TAPS IN FOR BIRDIE

Oh yeah. Back under par.

WOODS PIPES IT DOWN 9

Tiger with the honor and he hits a high, bomb fade up the 9th. Over 300 yards carry again, dead centre.

WOODS 323 YARDS DOWN THE 9TH

SOLID APPROACH INTO 9

From 144 yards, Woods' 9-iron lands past the pin and settles to around 20ft. Decent look at birdie to close out the front nine.

TIGER'S BEAUTY INTO 8...

This set up his second birdie of the day to reach one-under-par:

ONE-UNDER-PAR FRONT NINE

His birdie putt on the 9th was tracking but just lacked speed. Another roll and it was in. Yet another easy par and he turns in one-under. Very good.

THE ICONIC DRIVABLE 10TH AWAITS

Woods goes all out with driver on the iconic 10th and hits a high fade but it comes up well short in the bunker some 40 yards shy of the green. That's going to be a very tricky shot.

Update: His drive went just 260 yards and he's left with 51 yards to the pin.

WOODS IS ENJOYING HIMSELF OUT THERE

WOODS CHUNKS HIS BUNKER SHOT

From 51 yards...and it's a chunk. He's going to need a good up-and-down here on the supremely tricky 10th to save par.

It barely measures 300 yards but both Woods and Thomas aren't even on the green after two shots.

BAD TO WORSE

From 30 yards, Tiger hits a heavy-handed pitch shot and it runs through into the bunker. Ouch.

WOODS' SECOND BUNKER SHOT

He does well with his splash shot but he's got work to do to save his bogey as it just grabs on the fringe. 8ft left to save a five.

BOGEY ON 10

A beautiful left-to-right 8 footer finds the center of the cup. Good sign there and damage well and truly limited. Long par-5 coming up next.

GOOD DRIVE DOWN 11

Woods hits a power fade down the 11th that just ends up running out of fairway down the right. Another good drive from Tiger. All three of the star trio have missed the fairway right.

APPROACH INTO THE PAR-5 11TH

Woods, who hit the longest drive down 11 of 338 yards, left himself 223 yards into the par-5 with his second.

With a long iron, he just pulls it down the left and comes up around 15-20 yards short of the green. Should still have a good chance of birdie.

BIG FLOP SHOT

From the rough, Woods bizarrely goes for the full swing parachute shot and it comes up on the green but short of the pin. Seemed a slightly odd choice when there was nothing in his way, but who am I to question the great man.

He has 16ft for birdie.

MCILROY TO TWO-UNDER

Beautiful little pitch shot from the World No.2. It lips out and leaves him 2ft for birdie. I'm giving it to him.

WOODS FOR BIRDIE ON 11...

Ahhhh. A beautiful effort from 16ft with a bit of right-to-left on it but it just slides by on the high side. Opportunity missed there, having been 220 out with his drive. Still level par.

THE TOUGH 494 YARD PAR-4 12TH AWAITS

This beastly, dogleg-right par-4 starts a spell of difficult holes on the back nine.

Woods fades it a bit too much and finds the right rough, joining McIlroy who does not appear to be finding many fairways.

ANKLE UPDATE

Not great, but doesn't seem to be putting him off...yet.

WOODS HASN'T LOST ANY LENGTH

He's averaged over 338 yards today, ranking 2nd in the field for driving distance.

MISSED GREEN ON 12 FOR WOODS

Tiger manages to get a nice lie after a spectator stood on his ball in the right rough, He pulls out a 4-iron on the treacherous 12th and just pushes it a touch, missing the green to the right.

DECENT CHIP FROM TIGER

Woods floats a wedge up from right of the green on 12 and it runs up to around 7ft short of the pin. Looked like it was going to much shorter so all-in-all a pretty decent result. Big putt coming up to avoid dropping to over-par.

BOGEY AT 12

Woods misses his par attempt left. Bogey-par-bogey start to the back nine and he's now one-over-par.

WOODS INTO THE CROWD ON 13

Tiger pushes his drive down the right on the par-4 13th into the crowd, with Thomas and McIlroy also missing it down the right. Woods' tee shot flew 282 yards and he's got 182 left, but he may be impeded after finding the trees.

Update: Lie looks to be good and doesn't seem to be impeded. All good.

COMES UP SHORT

Woods' 7-iron into 13 comes up short, right and kicks down towards the green but just off the putting surface. Short game skills set to be tested again.

SHOULD BE A PAR AT 13

Woods' chip shot looked fairly simple and he plays it well, popping it up and letting it roll right-to-left to within around 3ft of the hole. Should make for a good par save to hopefully steady the ship a little.

WOODS PARS 13

Taps in his three-footer and remains one-over-par.

Par-3 up next.

HUGE CROWDS

The crowds following the Woods/McIlroy/Thomas group are massive, and that's only amplified when you see the (lack of) crowds following all the other groups. Woods really is the needle.

BEAUTY INTO 14

After playing partners McIlroy and Thomas come up short, Woods feathers a cutty 6 iron from 183 into the heart of the 14th green and it uses the contours to settle 18ft away for birdie.

MCILROY CHIPS IN!

Rory chips in from just off the front edge of the par-3 14th and gets to three-under-par. He hasn't had his best stuff today, especially off the tee, but is bogey free around Riviera and putting together a sneakily-good round.

WOODS PARS 14

Not the best of putts from 18ft for birdie. Comes up short and breaks right. Easy par though! Stays one-over.

BEAUTY DOWN 15 FROM WOODS

A perfect little fade down 15, suiting the dogleg, from Tiger. In position A, 331 yards down the middle with 148 left in. Good birdie chance...?

WOODS FINDS THE GREEN ON 15

From 148, he flushes a 9-iron but its half a club too much and ends up 57ft away from the pin. He'll be happy to walk away with a par.

4FT FOR PAR?

Woods' 57ft birdie putt swings a lot from right-to-left and probably leaves him with around 4ft to save his par. Tricky but shouldn't be too much of a problem to stay one-over...

RORY'S CHIP-IN ON 14...

This got him to three-under:

WOODS PARS 15

Tiger cleans up from 4ft for his fairway, GIR, two-putt par on the 15th. Stays one-over with a par-3, par-5, par-4 finish ahead. How he'd love to get in at level par, or better.

GREAT SHOT ON 16!

Woods hits a punchy-fade into the right-hand pin on the par-3 16th and it's delightful! 10ft for birdie perhaps?

He's really battled on this back nine and has that to get back to level-par.

Update: It's 5ft!

KEITH MITCHELL IN AT SEVEN-UNDER

The American matches Max Homa's 64 thanks to a tap-in birdie on the 18th.

BIRDIE FOR WOODS!

Tiger converts his five-footer on the 16th for a glorious 2.

He's back to level-par and has the par-5 17th ahead before the final par-4 18th.

IMPRESSED WITH WOODS TODAY

Having followed plenty of Tiger Woods comebacks over the years, I can't say I was expecting much from him today but he has definitely surprised me a little bit. The round could have got away from him mid-way through the back nine and he could easily be two or three over par now.

His driving has been excellent, his putting has been excellent and everything in between has looked a little rusty still. Really been grinding it out well.

ANOTHER BOMB DOWN 17

Yet another fairway found from Tiger down the 17th. A bomb fade straight down the middle, this time going 332 yards. He'll have 276 left into this beastly par-5.

SOLID SECOND SHOT FOR WOODS ON 17

A bit of a push-fade with a fairway wood but he's got it all the way back there so it's easy gone 280, just missing the back, right of the green. Should be a relatively simple chip shot to give a good look at birdie.

McIlroy fires his approach with an iron miles right.

NOT THE BEST FROM WOODS

Tiger can only get it to around 25ft with his chip shot. Turns out it was a little tougher than I first thought but he probably wasn't best pleased with his effort. It came up shy and then fell away left.

WOODS' BIRDIE PUTT ON 17...

It's in!!!

WOODS BACK UNDER PAR

Tiger holes it from 23ft on the 17th, center cup! It had plenty of right-to-left break on it and he judged the speed and line to absolute perfection. It's birdie-birdie to get him back to one-under.

Some serious grit shown on this back nine. Love it!

WOODS' BIRDIE ON 16:

TIGER'S DRIVE DOWN 18...

Oh my. That might just be his best of the day. Buttercut fade. Picks the tee up instantly. It's gone miles.

317 yards to be precise to leave him 151 yards into the green.

TIGER'S BIRDIE PUTT ON 17...

MCILROY WITH A BEAUTY INTO 18

Rory will have inside 5ft to shoot a bogey-free four-under-par 67. Really solid today.

WOODS MATCHES HIM!

Tiger also stuffs a wedge in there on 18 and will also have around 7ft for birdie. If he holes it, that would be a birdie-birdie-birdie finish!

THOMAS BIRDIES 18

JT holes a putt from just off the green to shoot a three-under-par 68.

Woods up next.

BIRDIE-BIRDIE-BIRDIE!

Woods holes from 7ft on the last for a spectacular finish to card a two-under-par 69. Incredible.

MCILROY ALSO BIRDIES!

The star trio all birdie the last and the atmosphere is rocking at Riviera. What an afternoon.

Woods: -2

Thomas: -3

McIlroy -4

DAY 2 AT RIVIERA

Good morning Folks. Tiger Woods is off at 7.24am local time from the 10th tee as he seeks to, at least, make the cut in his PGA Tour return. I'll be with you all morning/early afternoon LA time to live blog Tiger's progress.

"A GREAT ROUND"

Woods described his opening 69 at Riviera as “a great round” and I'd have to agree with him. He made three bogeys and five birdies, including three in a row to finish up, to post a very, very impressive two-under-par score.

What does today hold? Well, it's going to be chilly this morning and he won't have had too long to rest up and go again so another 69 will be very good going. If he can get in under-par after 36 holes then he'll have done a stellar job I'd say.

TAMPON CONTROVERSY

Not something I thought I'd be writing this week, but Woods has created a bit of controversy after his tampon prank on Justin Thomas when he outdrove his playing partner on the 9th. Needless to say, the reaction has been very mixed.

WOODS' BIG-HITTING

Tiger was outdriving McIlroy at times yesterday, and the Northern Irishman clearly wasn't a massive fan of that!

WOODS GETTING READY

With 23 minutes left until tee off, Woods is having some practice in a greenside bunker. His first hole will be the iconic, drivable 10th where he was in two bunkers yesterday on the way to a very good bogey save.

AND THEY'RE OFF

Woods hits an iron about 230 down there and should have a flick in to hopefully set up a birdie look on his 1st. McIlroy goes long, left with a gigantic fairway wood and Thomas finds the fairway with an iron.

WOODS IN TIGHT AT 10

Lovely zippy little wedge and he'll have around 8ft for an opening birdie and his fourth in a row!

BIRDIE PUTT SLIDES BY

Tap-in par to start the day as his nine-footer just slides by on the right.

BOGEY FOR MCILROY

Rory can't hole from 7ft after finding a tough spot with his opening tee shot and makes his first bogey of the tournament to fall back to three-under. Thomas also bogeys and is back to two-under.

The 10th is so awkward (in a great way) if you go for the green and get it wrong. Genuinely don't know why everyone doesn't lay up.

DECENT DRIVE DOWN 11

At the par-5, with the honor after both his partners bogeyed the 10th, Woods finds the semi rough down the right side. Drive flew 267 yards and ran out to around 300.

TIGER PAST RORY

Woods has done McIlroy by about 10 yards on the 11th. His drive went 316 yards, still can't believe how far he's hitting it!

WOODS' SECOND INTO THE 11TH

From 272 yards he missed the green just left but it's a very nice shot. Leaves himself loads of green to work with and surely another birdie look is coming up.

CHIP IS GREAT

Woods plays a delightful chip-and-run on the par-5 11th and he's going to have 4ft for birdie. I'm giving him that.

THAT WAS BAD

He shoves it. Too much pace and just pushed. Not good. Par.

FORE RIGHT

Drive down 12 is miles right into the fans and trees. One of the toughest holes on the course, measuring 480 today, so could be in some trouble.

LUCKY BREAK FOR TIGER ON 12

Woods' ball hit the trees and bounced back into the semi-rough. Got 180 in from a nice lie. Good shot required.

NOT GOOD

He's found the front, right bunker on 12 with a bit of a pushed iron shot. Might be struggling to make par here. He bogeyed it yesterday too.

NICE BUNKER SHOT

Woods was well below the surface in the big bunker short, right of the 12th green and it's a cracking effort. It almost goes in, eventually rolling about 8ft by. Big par save coming up to keep him two-under.

MCILROY CHIPS IN!

Rory from left of the green chips in for a birdie to get back to four-under. It's his second chip-in of the tournament so far as well.

WOODS' SUPPORTERS...

WOODS' PAR PUTT ON 12...

It was actually 15ft, not eight. It leaks right at the end and misses, dropping him back to one-under. Putter is cold so far today.

WOODS INTO THE CROWD ON 13

He loses it right off the tee for the second-consecutive hole, with this one going into the fans. 

SECOND INTO 13

He looks to get some relief from the cables down the right and only has 138 into the pin. 

The approach is nice but comes up just short of the green, although he'll be able to get the putter out for an outside birdie chance.

CHIP ON 13...

From 32ft, just off the front of the green, he gets the wedge out and hits a solid 7/10 one up there to about 4ft. Should get out of there with a par.

PAR FOR WOODS

Woods does not clean up for par and that's a real unforced error from 138 yards. That's a par-par-bogey-bogey start and he's back to level par. Poor start all things considered but he'll surely warm up as the morning goes on.

Back-to-back birdies for McIlroy, meanwhile, to take him inside the top-five.

CUT WATCH

The top-65 and ties make it through to the weekend here and Woods is currently T55th at level par early in the day. If he can get it in at level par he'll almost certainly make the cut.

PAR 3 14TH UP NEXT...

From 192, Woods has hit it to within 1ft!! WOW.

BIRDIE CONFIRMED

Woods taps it in and that was a lovely little bonus. Gets him back to one-under for the tournament.

WOODS' NEAR-ACE ON 14

WOODS WITH DRIVER ON 15

He's missed 3/3 fairways so far with the big stick this morning... can he find the fairway on 15?

Oh wow.

327 yards of carry, straight down the middle. He stepped on that.

364 YARDS

I've watched every Tiger Woods shot the last two days and I think that was his best drive. 

He's only going to have 118 left in to the 485-yard second-hardest hole on the course.

WOODS JUST GAVE HIS FANBASE A NOD

These guys just got a nod and a smile from Tiger. They loved it.

CHUNKED IT

From 118 yards...it's chunked. He drops the club in disgust.

WOODS' THIRD INTO 15

He flops one up and tries to zip it but it runs long, left about 10ft and that's going to be a very tricky right-to-lefter. Looking like a bogey now despite that incredible drive.

BIG PUTT COMING UP HERE

He does not want to miss this. Momentum would be all gone if this doesn't drop.

HE HOLES IT!

That was big. The flat stick has been cold today but that is a much-needed par save on the 15th following his chunked wedge. Hopefully that can push him on now.

Still one-over for the day and one-under for the tournament.

WOODS' FANBASE GETTING A NOD AND A SMILE...

PAR 3 16TH UP NEXT

Woods made a delightful birdie here last night, starting a run of three-consecutive birdies to close out his round.

GREAT SWNG

He's within 5ft at 16 again! Nice, easy middle pin to be fair but that was a lovely committed swing with probably a 9-iron. That to get back to level for the day.

HUGE GALLERIES AGAIN

WOODS MISSES 5FT BIRDIE PUTT ON 16

Pushes it. Was a tricky left-to-righter but he definitely pushed that.

Taps in for par, stays one-under for the tournament. Putter is still cold.

RORY'S CHIP-IN ON 12

This was from earlier. So good.

WOODS' TEE SHOT ON 16

This was where he hit it to before missing the birdie chance.

WOODS BUNKERED ON 17

The long par-5 will be a three-shotter for Tiger after he leaks a necky one down the right into the fairway bunker. That wasn't great, but no harm done.

NICE LAY UP FROM WOODS

On 17, Tiger gets it well down there from the fairway bunker to set up a short iron or wedge into the par-5 with his third.

Update: His bunker shot went 140 and he's still got 180 in! Let's take a par and move on.

OH MY!

From 180 into wind, uphill... Tiger hits it to tap-in range. Yes, really.

THAT WAS SO GOOD

That was probably a 5-iron I'd guess. Punched it low and it really is a kick in, guaranteed birdie. Absolutely gorgeous. Video to follow in the next 5-minutes probably.

HERE WE GO...

BIRDIE

Birdie confirmed at 17 and we're back to where we started the day. Two-under-par after 28 holes.

NEARLY NINE YEARS SINCE WOODS WAS LAST WORLD NO.1

GREAT DRIVE DOWN 18

Bullet fade down the right, just maybe ends up in the semi-rough but should be fine to leave a wedge or so into the green.

WOODS NEXT TO AN OLD DIVOT

Awkward lie for Tiger whose ball just trickled into the semi rough. He's right up against an old divot that has been replaced fairly badly.

WOODS' APPROACH INTO 18

Next to the old divot, Woods has 154 yards into the pin so probably a PW or 9-iron.

It's pulled slightly and just misses the green left. May be a tricky little chip shot.

WOODS' CHIP ON 18

It was indeed very tricky, but he's played a beauty.

A delicate mini flop shot landing just on the green and well left of the pin slowly rolls down towards the hole. Easy three-footer for par coming up to turn in level par and two-under for the tournament.

WOODS PARS

Tiger out in level par 36. Good save there after two early bogeys.

Next up, the par-5 1st hole that should yield a birdie.

MY VIEW ON TIGER

I've watched every single shot he's hit for the last 27 holes and I have been beyond impressed. This isn't the same guy we saw limping around the Old Course last July, or hacking it round Southern Hills before withdrawing on Saturday night at the PGA.

Woods is so much sharper, and he seems to be moving pretty well. His putter has been ice cold today and he's only six back of the lead. If he can stay fit then he's going to be at the top of leaderboards again very quickly.

CUT WATCH

Woods is currently in T25th position and the top 65 and ties make it through to the weekend. The cut is currently projected at even par, meaning everyone at +1 or worse will go home.

Hopefully he gets to three-under after the par-5 1st and then can hang on or even move further up the leaderboard.

DRIVE ON THE 1ST

He's just outdriven the fairway on the 1st with a baby fade that's travelled over 315 yards. That was really nice. He's on the gravel road along with JT so may choose to take a free drop.

RULINGS ON THE 1ST

JT takes a drop off the path and it looks like Tiger is doing the same. The drive went 325 so he'll have about 180 left by the time he drops it a few yards back into the rough.

WOODS IS HITTING OFF THE GRAVEL PATH

He's only got 160 yards in and he's pushed it miles right into the crowd. I'm just glad he didn't hurt himself there. Feet and legs were very still during the swing as any slip could have done him some damage.

WOODS FROM THE CROWD

From 29 yards in the right rough his pitch settles to around 10ft. Lovely shot, no damage done there as that could have gone wrong. Huge birdie putt coming up!

"SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS" SAYS BARSTOOL SPORTS' DAN RAPAPORT

WOODS FOR BIRDIE ON THE 1ST...

From 9ft with a bit of left-to-right and it slides by on the right side. Another missed chance with the flat stick.

He remains two-under-par but really should/could be five-under.

JUST A REMINDER...

Woods teed off the 10th this morning so has now played 10 holes. He's about to tee off the par-4 2nd with eight holes remaining.

LEAKS IT ON THE 2ND

Hits a bit of a push down the 2nd and may have some tree trouble. Not the best of swings at all there, lost a few drives to the right today.

WOODS' 2ND INTO THE 2ND

Looks to have got away with it and he's found a decent lie in the rough from 178.

His approach comes up just short of the green.

WOODS' THIRD INTO 3

His pitch shot from 29 yards is nice but it runs out to probably 7ft long. Another test for the putter that has been oh so cold today.

GREAT PAR SAVE

That was clutch. Turns out it was 10ft and looked fairly straight but the stroke was good and it went in dead center. Still two-under, seven holes to play.

TIGER'S COLD PUTTER

Woods is -2.671 in Strokes Gained: Putting today compared to +1.818 yesterday. And he's still two-under-par.

GREAT DRIVE DOWN 3

Woods' bomb fade is back and he carries it well over 300 yards and hits the fairway on the 3rd. It went 364 yards to leave himself 79 yards in.

LONG OF THE 3RD

Woods goes for a high, spinning flop shot and flies it way too far. He's long of the green and has some more short game work to do to remain two-under.

McIlroy almost holes his wedge for an eagle after a 388 yard drive, so he should get to six-under and up to T4th.

WORK TO DO FOR WOODS

The chip shot was nice but it spun left a little and came up short. Will have 5ft to save par I'd guess.

WOODS FOR PAR ON THE 3RD...

Solid save from Tiger there. Still two-under.

McIlroy missed his birdie chance by the way, it just slid by on the low, left side.

PAR 3 4TH COMING UP

Woods bogeyed this yesterday. It measures a beastly 242 today and 223 to the front.

GOOD SHOT

Brilliant long iron from Woods but it just runs off the back of the green. Only six players have hit the green so far today.

All three miss the green! Tough hole.

BAD SECOND FROM TIGER ON 4

He putts it and it's quick with a lot of left-to-right but he smashes it and doesn't play enough break so runs well past. That was not his finest. Still will have a good chance at par, though.

GREAT PAR SAVE

It ran by 10ft and Woods holes it! That was a little more stressful than it needed to be. He's been good at holing par putts today though.

Still two-under and level for the day.

WOODS DOWN THE MIDDLE OF 5

Much better than yesterday, when he pulled it left and had that waist-high shot. He finds the middle of the fairway and is 273 yards down there with 170 left in.

LOVELY APPROACH FROM WOODS

Gorgeous pully, cut into the 5th green that just hangs onto the back, left side and he'll have around 30ft for birdie. Not bad at all.

Both McIlroy and Thomas miss the green from closer, making Woods' shot look even better.

EASY PAR AT 5

Woods' birdie effort breaks a lot more to the right than he thought and he'll tap in from 2ft. That's five consecutive pars now as we head to the iconic bunker-in-the-middle-of-the-green par-3 6th.

Woods two-under-par with four holes left.

TEE SHOT ON SIX

The pin is back-left and Woods oh so nearly keeps it up there before it rolls all the way back down. The bunker will probably be in his way now so he may need to get a wedge out. He'd take a par right now.

HE HAS THE PUTTER OUT...

From 71ft, up the hill and...it went in the bunker. Oh dear.

BUNKER SHOT IS GOOD

Lovely sand shot and looks like he'll have 4ft for bogey. 

GOOD BOGEY

It was 5ft and absolutely rapid down the hill, and his ball just about falls over the front edge. Superb putt and a nice bit of damage limitation as that could have easily been a double.

Back to one-under.

STINGER!

Woods with a classic stinging, faded fairway wood up the par-4 7th. Fairway found, and found gracefully. That travelled 250 yards, leaving him with 160 in.

He's dropped to T40th now so still looking good to make the cut. The cut is at level par still but will probably drop to one-over.

WOODS' PUTT INTO THE BUNKER ON 6...

APPROACH INTO THE 7TH

Nothing special but not too bad either. It's right on line but maybe half a club short. Will have maybe 30ft for birdie up the hill. Outside chance.

WOODS FROM 37FT

37ft is the number and it's nicely uphill so represents a solid-ish chance for birdie here on the 7th.

It was tracking right-to-left but comes up agonisingly short by just a couple of rolls. Good effort. Solid par.

"OH NO" OFF THE 8TH TEE

Looked to be a bit pully and probably not quite out the middle, and it has found the fairway bunker. He'll have 160 to the pin so hopefully the lip isn't going to be an issue.

FOLLOWING TIGER INSIDE THE ROPES

GM's Andy Wright has been at Riviera this week and followed Tiger Woods inside the ropes during the first round.

Read his piece on what his experience was like.

WOODS PITCHES OUT

Sadly the lip was clearly an issue and he just wedges it out a little bit further up the fairway.

Could be a bogey coming up.

THIRD SHOT MISSES THE GREEN

From 139, his third shot goes long. Will need to get it up-and-down to avoid going over par for the tournament.

That cut line is starting to look a bit close.

WOODS PUTTS IT... BOGEY

This is for par from just off the green and it's a cracking effort but just comes up short. The putt was lightning quick and he rolls it up to tap in for bogey.

Back to level par now and on the cut line, although +1 should be enough to make it in come the end of the day.

CUT WATCH

As Woods approaches the 9th tee for his final hole of the day, he sits in T51st position and sort of comfortably inside the cut line, which will see the top 65 and ties through to the weekend.

He's level par now and a par on the ninth will basically guarantee him through, although a bogey should be okay too.

WOODS IN THE CROWD

The 15-time Major winner blocks it down the right on his final hole into the crowd but he should be absolutely fine. No trees to worry about over there.

He'll have 156 yards in.

WOODS' APPROACH INTO THE 9TH

It comes up short and looks to be bunkered. 

Up and down to guarantee a made cut.

WAS IT PLUGGED?

Woods looked to be plugged in the bunker there in front of the 9th green and he splashed it out but I think it has run through the back of the green. Looks like he might be on his way to another bogey.

NEARLY CHIPS IN

I thought he had that! He was only a couple of feet off the green in the end - broadcast has gone a bit dodgy now that the main coverage has started.

He'll have inside 3ft to (probably) make the cut on the number.

MCILROY BIRDIES THE LAST

He's had a frustrating time on the greens today but a very solid birdie putt gets him to six-under after 36 holes and well in contention heading to the weekend.

Thomas finishes up with a par to sit at one-under.

WOODS CLEANS UP FOR BOGEY

Tiger Woods holes his short bogey putt and is in the house at one-over-par after 36 holes.

Probably going to make the cut on the number.