Tiger Woods has all the feels in his first-round 68 at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament at Bay Hill Club & Lodge on March 15.(Photo: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

ORLANDO – Tiger Woods was trudging back up the hill toward the tee box on the third hole at Bay Hill during Thursday’s first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a 275-yard journey that gave him time to calm down.

Behind Woods was the spot where his ball wound up four inches out of bounds, forcing him to take the long trip back to the tee. After hitting another tee shot, Woods went on to make a double-bogey 6.

It was his only spot of bother in the round.

Adding another positive day to his latest comeback, Woods, who finished in a tie for second last week in the Valspar Championship, shot a 4-under-par 68 to stand just one shot back of pace-setting Jimmy Walker among the early finishers. Walker ended his round by holing out for eagle from 132 yards on the 18th hole to shoot 67.

Woods, who has won this event a record eight times, including in 2013 when he last played here, started his day on the 10th tee and made six birdies during his round. This is his fifth PGA Tour start since spinal fusion surgery, and for the first time, he made birdies on each of the four par-5s in a single round.

“I've got my tournament feels now, which is nice,” Woods said. “That was only going to come with time and with patience and just playing golf tournaments. I'm scoring now, so I'm going out there and hitting shots and I'm scoring. I've been away from it for so long that when I first came back it was just a matter of just getting my feel for tournament golf again. I think I have. I feel like I'm not really thinking as much around the golf course.

“I can just see and feel it and go.”

Woods authored a variety of impressive shots during the round, including a 350-yard drive on the 16th that was aided by a cart path. After his out-of-bounds fiasco, he came back with a 296-yard drive up the hill and into the wind at the par-5 fourth, then knocked a 3-wood from 270 yards just over the green, from where he made birdie.

On the sixth hole, he spun a pitch shot off dicey lie from 34 yards to four feet – “That was money,” Woods said – for another birdie. On the next hole, he canned a 70-footer for birdie.

With his fused back no longer an issue, neither are any shots Woods, the winner of 79 Tour titles and 14 majors, wants to hit. He can shape every shot and hit stingers, fades, draws and the full-bore driver. The narrative during his comeback has changed, the queries no longer dealing with his health but dealing with the state of his game.

Patrick Reed, who tied for second with Woods in last week’s Valspar, also shot 68. He’s not surprised that Woods has become a contender again so quickly in his return to the game. “He’s Tiger Woods, OK,” Reed said. And he's glad he can go toe-to-toe with the former No. 1.

“I love being on top of the leaderboard when Tiger's around, because it means that he's playing well, which is good not only for the tournament but also good for golf,” Reed said. “There’s also the electricity that goes around the entire place when he's playing well. For some reason, it just kind of gets me going and hopefully I can continue playing some solid golf and see him late on Sunday.”

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