Tiger Woods rallies for two-under 70 during round one at Memorial

Tiger Woods teed it up for the first time since his missed cut at the PGA Championship Thursday, rallying to finish at two under in his first round at the Memorial.

Woods, who admitted to feeling fresh after losing ‘quite a bit of weight’ during the PGA, made three birdies in his last five holes to get in the house at 70.

“It was one of those days it could have easily flipped,” Woods said afterward. “It’s so soft out there and definitely gettable.”

Woods drove the ball beautifully Thursday, hitting 11 of 14 fairways at a course he’s won at five times. Don’t go looking for a hole in his game during that opening 18. Woods hit 10 greens — probably below average for him — but putted well enough (27 putts; 68 feet of putts made) to keep his round together. He trails Ryan Moore (65) by five shots after the morning wave of tee times.

The second-nine rally included birdies on holes 5 and 7, two par 5s, and this smooth dart into the par-3 8th.

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Back-to-back birdies.@TigerWoods is 2-under heading to his last hole.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/XQMV27lzXi

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 30, 2019

Woods will head back out with Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Rose at 1:16 p.m. Friday.