Tiger Woods fired a three-under-par 69 in his opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Woods, seeking a record 83rd triumph on the PGA tour on a course where he has lifted eight titles previously, carded five birdies in a promising start in San Diego.
The 44-year-old was three off the lead of six under set by Sebastian Cappelen.
Woods, who started on the back nine, recovered from a bogey on the 11th to claim birdies on the 13th and the par-five 17th but dropped another shot to make the turn at level par.
He closed out the round with three more birdies and only missed out on an eagle at the fifth after a 20-foot putt missed to the left.
"Overall, I'm pleased," he said afterwards. "I feel like I drove a little better today.
"My start lines were a little bit tighter, which was nice. I missed competing, so I was just trying to keep everything as calm as I possibly could."
Woods acquired the Zozo Championship in October, his first start of the 2019-20 PGA Tour season.
After ending fourth at the unofficial Hero World Challenge and then playing (and serving as captain) for the U.S. team at the Presidents Cup, Woods took the past month off, although he started working on his game a few weeks ago.
As part of that, he started an extensive testing process for a new TaylorMade driver, which was in the bag Thursday, as well as a different Bridgestone golf ball.
Woods hit eight of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens and needed 29 putts. He began on the 10th hole of the North, a relatively short par-5 where he hit a perfect drive but missed the green and could not get up and down. After driving just short of the green at the short par-4 11th, Woods chunked a pitch shot into a bunker and made a bogey.
He added birdies at the 13th and 17th holes, then bogeyed the 18th before making three birdies on the front at the first, fifth and ninth.
Woods did not hit the ball particularly close, making three birdies on par-5s, but it was a solid effort and his first score in the 60s on the North since 2013, when he shot 65 and went on to win.
A triumph this weekend would be the 83rd of his PGA Tour career, breaking Sam Snead's record.
