Tiger Returns at Muirfield with 1-Under 71; Finau Leads at 6 Under
Friday, July 17, 2020

    Tiger Woods made his return to the PGA Tour in The Memorial after a five-month layoff and thrilled the TV audience by birdieing two of his first three holes at Muirfield Village, an event he has won five times. But he hit a brick wall the rest of the way and it took a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to get him to 1-under 71, and a tie for 18th. His final tally - four birdies and three bogeys. 

    The wind played a huge part in much higher scoring than last week's Workday Charity Open, also played at Muirfield. The cut line last week came at 2 under, yesterday it stood at 2 over. 

    At day's end, it was Tony Finau who emerged with the lead at 6 under par, one stroke better than Ryan Palmer, whose 5-under 67 belied his play of last week, when he missed the cut. Gary Woodland and Brendan Steele are another stroke back at 4 under 68.

    Tiger was the main TV focus as the event was spectatorless again, although cheers could be heard on certain holes. Announcers Nick Faldo and Terry Gannon never told who the cheers were coming from; possibly people who have homes on the course and were watching from their back yards.

    Seminole Brooks Koepka also made his return to the Tour and finished at even-par 72, same as Phil Mickelson, who, as usual, was all over the place all day. Seminole Daniel Berger was at 1-over 73, tied for 42nd, and lone Gator Billy Horschel was less than sharp with a 4-over 76, tied for 95th.  

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