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Woods made nine birdies on the TPC Blue Monster at Trump Doral for a 6-under 66 that put him in a five-way share of the lead with Masters champion Bubba Watson, former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Freddie Jacobson.
This World Golf Championship lived up to its name with Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan among the big names one shot behind.
But it was another rough day for McIlroy, who hit only three fairways and made six bogeys that kept him at par or worse on a perfect day for scoring. Despite making a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 first hole, and lacing a 5-iron over the water for another eagle attempt on the par-5 eighth that narrowly missed, the best he could manage was a 73.
McIlroy has yet to break par this year.
"It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest," McIlroy said to Sky Sports. "Hit some good shots. Hit some not-so-good shots. As I've been saying all week, this is a work in progress and I'm working at it and I'm staying patient."
Coming off a pedestrian performance a week ago at The Honda Classic, Woods looked sharp in most aspects of his game, except for a few lapses with his chipping. He wasted two early birdies with a three-putt bogey on the 13th hole and a delicate flop shot that he mishit on the 14th, leading to another bogey. His chip up the slope on the third didn't reach the green for another bogey.
He holed two long birdie putts, including a 40 footer on the par-3 fourth hole, and missed four reasonable chances inside 15 feet. His final birdie was on the par-5 eighth, when he had to lay up from a fairway bunker and hit a wedge that stopped 2 feet from the hole.
"It was certainly a day that could have been a little lower," Woods said.
Just about everyone could say that in these conditions.
Garcia and McDowell were in the same group. Not only did they have bogey-free rounds, both birdied the same four holes. Jacobson made two eagles in a span of three holes, both times hitting a 5-wood onto the green to just over 12 feet.
Watson played in the group with Mickelson and Stricker, and they were a collective 16-under par.
Stricker had a chance to tie for the lead except he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the final hole. Mickelson, as usual, kept it entertaining. He pulled his tee shot on the 17th hole and his ball stopped rolling after it traveled some 450 yards. He purposely took a free drop on the cart path to avoid the rough, and chipped that to about 5 feet for birdie.
"You hit the ball in as much trouble as I do off the tee, you learn to hit those kinds of shots and have enough practice at it," he said. "I knew what was going to happen."
McIlroy apologised during a press conference Wednesday, said it would never happen again and wanted to get back to being happy on the golf course. There weren't many smiles.
He didn't hit a fairway on the front nine (he started on No. 10), though two of those shots were in the first cut and led to birdie. But as much time as he has spent trying to rediscover that easy, balanced swing, it was clear he has neglected his short game. On the second hole, he had an 80-foot putt that he left 20 feet short.
"It was nice to sneak in a couple birdies on the last three holes and make it look somewhat respectable, even though everyone seems to be going pretty low out there today," McIlroy said.
Woods played two rounds with him at Abu Dhabi to start the year, and they were frequent playing partners during the FedExCup Playoffs last year. Woods said McIlroy looked "just a little bit defensive" with his swing.
"That happens, and we have all gone through stretches like this," Woods said. "It happens, and it happened to him last year in the middle of the year, and ended up all right at the end of the year. When you play golf for a very long time, you're going to have spells like this. You can't play well every week, even though you try. You're going to have ups and downs, and just got to battle through it."
Padraig Harrington signed for a four over par 76, with the only birdie on the opening hole, and then following the good start with four dropped shots by the turn.
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