Putter haunts Tiger Woods opening round at Riviera

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Tournament host Tiger Woods was left to rue a tough time on the greens in his opening round at the Genesis Open. And the bad news was he had no time to look for a fix as the 80-time PGA TOUR winner was sent back out for his second round in the rain affected event. Woods cobbled together a 1-under 70 on Friday morning, needing 34 putts on the soft and gettable greens. It left him seven shots back of leader J.B. Holmes as he headed back out for his second round after a short 30-minute break. Woods had hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation but lost over two and a half strokes on the field putting, ranking 134th in the field for the opening round. “I hit it well and putted awful. Four three‑putts is ridiculous,â€� Woods said. Things could have been worse for Woods after he sat two over on his round through seven holes. But the two-time FedExCup champion peeled off four birdies in a row around the turn to resurrect his challenge and one of the rare venues he has yet to post a victory. A sloppy three-putt bogey on the par-5 17th as he finished up though hurt his momentum. “I don’t know what it is, I just didn’t feel very comfortable with my putter today, couldn’t see my lines, and consequently I hit just a boatload of bad putts,â€� Woods said. “I just couldn’t get comfortable with my posture. I need to fix it quickly.â€�

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