Woods returns to old stomping grounds

He’s back. Tiger Woods is playing his first PGA TOUR event since 2015, and he’s making his return at one of his favorite hunting grounds. Woods has won the Farmers Insurance Open seven times, and his most recent major victory came at the 2008 U.S. Open here. Throw in the 1991 Junior World Championship, and Woods has won nine times at Torrey Pines. “I’m looking forward to getting out and competing with those guys,” Woods said at Monday’s Genesis Open media day. His last PGA TOUR appearance was a T-10 finish at the Wyndham Championship in August 2015. “I’ve missed playing. I’ve missed competing and I’m coming back to one of my favorite venues and looking forward to it.” Torrey Pines also was the site of the first tournament that Woods attended, the old Andy Williams Open. And now it’s the site of his return to the PGA TOUR after a lengthy layoff following back surgeries that had Woods questioning if he’d ever play again. “I think he’s excited, obviously,” said Jason Day. “I know that he’s very motivated to come out and play well. “It’d be great to play with him on Sunday. Not early, late. It would be nice.” To prepare for Woods’ latest start at the Farmers Insurance Open, here’s a quick look at his first seven wins at this event. 2013 Farmers Insurance Open Woods’ seventh victory at the Farmers Insurance Open came in a Monday finish caused by lengthy fog delays earlier in the week. He had a six-shot lead with 11 holes remaining when play was suspended Sunday by darkness. He built his lead to eight strokes with five holes remaining, but played those holes in 4 over par. “I had an eight‑shot lead, so just needed to stay upright and I was going to be fine,” Woods said. The win was Woods’ 75thon the PGA TOUR.  1. Tiger Woods, -14 (68-65-69-72) T2. Brandt Snedeker, -10 (65-75-69-69) T2. Josh Teater, -10 (66-70-73-69) 2008 Buick Invitational Woods played the first three rounds in 18 under par to sprint out to an eight-shot lead. He made just one bogey over the first 54 holes. Woods ran away with the win despite finishing 75th in fairways hit. It was the first of three consecutive victories to open the season for Woods. This was Woods’ 62nd career victory, tying him with Arnold Palmer on the all-time list.  “I’m hitting shots that I never could hit before, even in 2000,” Woods said. “People think, yeah, you played great (in 2000), but I made everything. I’m actually hitting the ball better now than I did during that stretch.” 1.     Tiger Woods, -19 (67-65-66-71) 2.     Ryuji Imada, -11 (69-72-69-67) T3. Stewart Cink, -9 (68-69-69-73) T3. Rory Sabbatini, -9 (67-75-70-67) 2007 Buick Invitational Despite finding 16 bunkers in the last two rounds, Woods beat Charles Howell III by two. Woods started the final round in fourth place, two shots behind TOUR rookies Andrew Buckle and Brandt Snedeker. Buckle shot 72 and Snedeker fired 71 in the final round, while Woods played the final 11 holes in 5 under, including an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole. It was Woods’ seventh consecutive PGA TOUR victory. “I made a bomb there on 9 to get myself up there with a chance,” Woods said. “It seemed like in order to win the tournament you had to make birdies on the back nine. I knew these guys, even though they have not won golf tournaments before, they still were going to be playing aggressively. They had nothing to lose and I figured I had to go get it. “I played pretty aggressive on that back nine, for me, and just happened to come out on top.” 1.     Tiger Woods, -15 (66-72-69-66) 2.     Charles Howell III, -13 (70-64-73-68) 3.     Brandt Snedeker, -12 (61-70-74-71) 2006 Buick Invitational Woods’ final-round 72 in 2006 left him feeling “very lucky” to make a playoff with Nathan Green and Jose Maria Olazabal. Olazabal missed a four-foot par putt to hand Woods the trophy in the playoff. The win made Woods the first four-time winner of the Buick Invitational. “Quite frankly, I shouldn’t have probably even been in the playoff,” Woods said. “I figured the guys would probably get to at least 12 or 13, and I wasn’t putting very good at all. “I hung in there, hung in there, and then I saw that Ollie posted 10 and Nathan bogeyed 17, so it was looking like 10 was going to get in playoff. So, huge up-and-down on 17, then two good shots at 18 (to make birdie).” 1.     Tiger Woods, -10 (71-68-67-72) T2. Nathan Green, -10 (67-70-69-72) T2. Jose Maria Olazabal, -10 (74-64-71-69) 2005 Buick Invitational Woods edged Luke Donald, Tom Lehman and Charles Howell III by three shots. Due to fog delays, Lehman played 36 holes in one day with the then-World No. 1. Woods started the final round in fifth place, two shots behind Donald and Lehman, but made five birdies and a single bogey in the final round as the co-leaders both shot 73. “It feels great, especially today, as long as it was. The start I kind of got off to this morning, it wasn’t very good, but I hung in there. I just felt like I just needed to stay around,” Woods said. “This golf course is so difficult, anything can happen. And I wasn’t feeling all that comfortable with my swing today. But I kind of just grinded around.” 1.     Tiger Woods, -16 (69-63-72-68) T2. Luke Donald, -13 (68-67-67-73) T2. Charles Howell III, -13 (72-67-64-72) T2. Tom Lehman, -13 (62-67-73-73) 2003 Buick Invitational Three months after surgery on his left knee, Woods beat Carl Pettersson by four shots and Brad Faxon by five. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to — one, to have played 72 holes without being sore, which is a big positive, and to have won the tournament is another big positive,” Woods said. “It was a successful week from two standpoints.” 1.     Tiger Woods, -16 (70-66-68-68) 2.     Carl Pettersson, -12 (69-68-70-69) 3.     Brad Faxon, -11 (70-64-71-72) 1999 Buick Invitational At the ’99 Buick, Woods made the cut by only two, but shot a 62 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead after shooting 62 in the third round. Woods held off Billy Ray Brown with a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th for a final-round 65. 1.     Tiger Woods, -22 (68-71-62-65) 2.     Billy Ray Brown, -20 (69-65-68-66) 3.     Bill Glasson, -18 (68-67-68-67)

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