Woods plays down hot start in Greensboro
Bidding for a FedEx Cup play-offs spot, Tiger Woods said the rain helped his cause in the Wyndham Championship first round.
Tiger Woods played down his brilliant start at the Wyndham Championship, claiming conditions suited him to a tee as he carded a six-under-par 64.
The 14-time major champion needs to end his winning drought on the PGA Tour - or finish outright second - if he is to qualify for the FedEx Cup play-offs, with Woods winless in the US since August 2013.
Eyeing PGA Tour win number 80, Woods started with a chip-in birdie - and it would be the first of seven for the former world number one.
"I drew a good lie there at 10, and don't forget it's been raining pretty hard so the greens were soft, and I could play that shot," said Woods, downplaying his highlight.
"I went for it, I ripped it, it was nice, I gived a little early call, I walked in a little bit early but it was nice to have it go in."
While playing down his brilliance, later Woods inadvertently quantified his brilliance when he commented the Sedgefield Country Club course can leave "a lot of little tough shots around the greens if you miss".
Woods found the green on his final hole of the day, the ninth, and drained the longest putt of his round - an 11-footer - to save par and earn a share of seventh place.
"The putt at nine was one of the bigger putts to make that," he said.
"I didn't want to throw away a round like that, because I hit two good iron shots... to be able to make that par putt just makes it feel so much better."
Woods said he was relieved there was rain around in Greensboro, North Carolina, claiming the course would be infinitely tougher otherwise.
"It's a tricky little golf course," the 39-year-old said.
"We're never going to play it dry this week, it's probably going to get some rain this afternoon or tomorrow, but I couldn't imagine playing this golf course fast.
"These greens are fast enough as it is, I couldn't imagine them being hard and baked out."