missing par putts of under six feet on the first and fourth

missing par putts of under six feet on the first and fourth

Eagle saves TigerTiger Woods didn't rate Thursday's first round at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic rather highly, but he can yet rank his final hole eagle as one of his greatest - especially if it comes as the spark that re-ignites his embattled career. After golf swing a average round that had the World No 3 struggling all of eight shots behind the super-hot first-round leader Rory McIlrey, five behind solid World No 1, Lee Westwood, and four behind a workmanlike World No 2, Martin Kaymer, Woods was looking a little bit of a sorry sight. He barely saw his ball roll down from the right side of the green, but a huge roar from the gallery confirmed that it had settled not much more than six feet from the pin. Woods nailed the relatively easy putt for a vital eagle that took him to 1-under and although it left him six shots of the pace set by McIlroy earlier in the day, it gave him a 71 and brought him up to two shots behind Westwood and Kaymer and must surely have boosted his sagging confidence sky high. He said of the eagle: "I had 254 (yards) to the hole and had to take something off it.

I threw it up in the air and it was golf swing perfect." Westwood blamed "a loss of concentration" for his sloppy carry out, while Kaymer said his round would have been "fantastic" but for his regrettable break on the ninth.But then again, you never can tell with Woods. He had a patchy first day to be sure, making just one birdie as against three bogies on the first nine, recovering with two early birdies on the back nine, but stumbling again with a double bogey six on the par four 16th before getting back under par with a 4th birdie and that amazing eagle at 18. Woods was quickly in trouble, missing par putts of under six feet on the first and fourth.