The 14-time major winner opened his 2012 season with a solid first round Thursday at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, shooting a 2-under 70 that left him three strokes behind co-leader Rory McIlroy, his playing partner.
McIlroy shot a 67, as did Robert Karlsson. But the best shots of the day came from Sergio Garcia (71) and Jose Manuel Lara (70) — each had a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole.
Gareth Maybin, Richard Finch and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet were one shot behind the two leaders. Top-ranked Luke Donald, who played alongside Woods and McIlroy, shot a 71. Second-ranked Lee Westwood (72) and fourth-ranked Martin Kaymer (77) had poor starts and never challenged.
Rory McIlroy used muscle power to steal an early season march on his main rivals for golfing dominance at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Ulsterman, who spent much of his winter break in the gym working on his physique, wrestled his way around the par-72 National Course for a five under 67 that included seven birdies against two bogeys.
That was three shots better than Tiger Woods and four ahead of Luke Donald, the two men he played with in what was the first round’s big drawing card.
It left him joint leader, with Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, of the $2.7million dollars European Tour tournament which opens a three-week long swing through the Gulf states and effectively kick-starts the season for the elite of world golf.