With a round of six under par, Woods took the lead on the first day. He shares it with compatriot Gary Woodland. They are a battle before the Japanese Hideki Matsuyama.
The 64 lap was Wood's best in over a year.
However, he started by sending the ball into the water on the Narashino course in Inzai and continued with bogeys on the second and third holes as well. Then he played spotless and put nine birdie putt.
"It was a crazy day"- It was a crazy day. I hit bad beats after bad beats and only aimed to be on par after half the round, he says.
The former world set has many years of injury behind him, especially with back problems for which he was also operated. However, the 43-year-old showed this spring that he is still holding high class when he won the US Masters.
Woods is the captain of the United States team that will play the Presidents Cup (competition against players from the rest of the world except Europe) in December. Now it is speculated that Woods may take himself out of the US team.