Woods remains in National contention

Tiger Woods remains in contention to win the Quicken Loans National after carding a level-par score of 70 during Thursday’s opening round.

The 14-time major winner struggled for consistency throughout his round at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, but was able to recover from a double bogey at the sixth to finish the day within seven strokes of co-leaders Andrew Landry and JJ Spaun.

The 42-year-old conceded that a level-par finish was a fair reflection for his opening round and he remains happy to be within striking distance of the lead, as he goes in search of his first victory on the PGA Tour in nearly five years.

“I shot about the score I should have shot, but I didn’t have anything going for the whole round,” Woods said. “I was hanging in there and hanging in there, but I’m not too far back – three under is in 10th, so if I just have a few good holes early, you are right back in the game.”

Woods, who is the tournament host in Maryland, has changed his putter for this week’s event after struggling for consistency on the greens over recent weeks, and he feels the alteration has already had a positive effect on his overall performance.

“I rolled it well on the greens,” the American added. I hit a lot of good putts and it was nice to feel that again and nice to feel the putter swing. I hit a lot of good putts on my line with the speed I wanted.

“I haven’t done that in a while so that’s the positive sign, to keep doing that. Eventually, they will start rolling in.”