Tiger Woods would take a 1-over 72 in most major championship setups, but the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla is already proving that it's not most major championships. With Xander Schauffele tying a major scoring record while setting a PGA Championship record with a 9-under 62, Woods' effort puts him a full 10 strokes off the early pace in Louisville.
Beginning his round on the back nine, Woods gave himself an opening birdie bid from inside 10 feet on the par-5 10th. Running it by, Woods set the tone early on the greens and made it known that he would be putting with pace on Thursday -- a stark contrast from his weekend at Augusta National last month.
Doing well to drop just one on the par-3 11th, Woods got a shot back by running in his birdie attempt from just inside 20 feet on the short par-4 13th. The 48-year-old's driver continued to pose problems on his opening half as he hit just four fairways and forced more than one chop out from the thick rough of Valhalla.
A missed fairway on the 15th ultimately led to a bogey, and it looked a few holes later as if Tiger would get this back before the turn. Greenside in two on the par-5 18th, Woods hit a poor chip to 15 feet and was unable to convert. He left the back nine without taking advantage of either of the par 5s and 1 over for the championship.
Despite leaving some shots out there, Woods was still in a solid position with nine holes to play. He hit a stunner from the left rough on No. 1 to inside 25 feet; that gave him a birdie look and started the trend of some much better iron play. This approach prowess came to fruition on the par-3 3rd when Woods' tee shot from 195 yards settled to 5 feet and got the 15-time major champion back to even par.
Plenty of runway remained out in front of Tiger as a couple short par 4s and one last par 5 made up his remaining six holes. He let the short par-4 4th go by without a birdie but got through the difficult par-4 sixth before arriving at his final par 5 of the round.
Woods walked in his birdie bid from 13 feet on No. 7 to claw into red figures, and the thought of his first under-par round in a major championship since the second round of the 2022 PGA Championship became real ... until it didn't.
Back-to-back three putts on Woods' final two holes turned a 1-under 70 into a 1-over 72. Suddenly, the weekend is in jeopardy for Woods as players continue to zip through the wet and accessible Valhalla Golf Club.
