Tiger Woods had an extraordinarily ordinary first round at Firestone

By Dave Shedloski

AKRON, Ohio -- Bounce back was the theme of the day for Tiger Woods in the opening round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, even if there wasn't an appreciable bounce in his step. Woods looked a bit lethargic on a brilliant Thursday afternoon at Firestone CC, becoming animated only after a poor approach shot into the 14th green, which prompted swiping angrily at the ground, ripping off his glove and burying his head in his cap. But he saved par as part of a largely solid two-under 68 at the venue where he has won eight times. "Yeah, I feel like I made some progress," Woods, 38, said of a round that included six birdies against two bogeys and one double bogey. "As I said, this is only my seventh round back, so it's just going to take a little time. I'm starting to get in the flow of things. If you look at my iron shots into the holes today, a majority of them were pin high. So I'm starting to get the feel back in my hands and get the ball, my trajectory under control. I'm starting to get the shots hitting the ball the correct numbers again."

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