“I had this unbelievable pairing” - Tiger Woods has an electric start at 2023 Genesis Invitational

Tiger Woods returned to the PGA Tour with the Genesis Invitational on Thursday after a long time. He took his time to settle his nerves and then came the last three holes where his hat-trick of birdies put him at 2 under after the conclusion of the first day at the Genesis Invitational.

The 82-time winner on the PGA Tour finished round 1 at the Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles at T-27, ahead of the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Tiger was grouped with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, two of his closest friends on Tour.

“It was nice that I had this unbelievable pairing, two great guys, two great friends. The people were obviously very supportive, they were just cheering all of us on, which is great. Just made this whole — this tournament better," said Woods.

The 47-year-old threw light on his first-round game, stating that he was successful in hitting some good shots and making a few putts.

"Even though I had a little mishap at 10, I was able to fight back and get it going. It was a nice finish," said Woods.

There are some aspects where Woods would like to improve, like his accuracy off the tee as he could only hit six of the 14 fairways. He hit some good long yards as five of the drives were more than 320, with one of them being as long as 338 yards.

Woods struggled to putt from long range. His first long putt came on the Par-5 17th where he sank a 24-foot putt, bringing him back under par.

Tiger said that the crowd was pretty loud and as he was playing any event after a long time, it felt louder than usual.

“I didn’t really look up as much. I probably should have, but I didn’t. I was trying to calm myself down all day," said the 15-timeaMajor winner.

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Max Homa, Keith Mitchell lead the table after the first round of the Genesis Invitational

Homa has won the Genesis Invitational in 2021

While all eyes were on Tiger Woods' return to the PGA Tour, it was the likes of Max Homa and Keith Mitchell who impressed everyone with their play on Thursday at the Riveria Golf Club.

Homa carded a score of 7-under 64 on Day 1 of the Genesis Invitational. A birdie on the final hole helped him move past Jon Rahm, who scored a 6-under 65. Rahm currently sits at No. 3 after the conclusion of the first round. Mitchell shared the lead with Homa as he holed five birdies on the back nine.

Collin Morikawa missed the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last week. However, he came back stronger at Genesis with a strong finish of 5-under 66 on Thursday with the help of consecutive birdies on the last two holes. He is tied for fourth along with Matt Kuchar and Harris English.

Rory McIlroy is at T-7 with 4 under, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was mediocre at just under par as he finished in tied 44th place on the first day.