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SAN DIEGO - Tiger Woods shrugged off a scrappy display with his driver to charge into early contention in the Buick Invitational first round today.
The world number one fired a five-under-par 67 on the South Course at Torrey Pines, the more difficult of the two par-72 layouts
hosting the fourth event on the PGA Tour.
Playing his first tournament since winning last month's Target World Challenge, Woods piled up six birdies and a bogey to finish two strokes behind the pacesetting Troy Matteson.
American Matteson, whose only PGA Tour victory came at the 2006 Las Vegas Open, birdied five of the last six holes on the South Course for a sparkling 65.
Rookie Brad Adamonis opened with a 66 on the 6,874-yard North Course, rated the easiest layout on last year's Tour after playing to an average of 68.67.
South African Rory Sabbatini carded a bogey-free 67 on the North Course to finish level with Woods and Australia's Stuart Appleby, who also started out on the North.
"I drove it pretty bad all day," Woods told reporters after missing seven fairways out of 14 in partial sunshine and scattered showers.
"It wasn't very pretty off the tee but I kept hanging in there and managed to post a number."
Asked why he felt so comfortable at Torrey Pines where he has won five Buick Invitational titles and three in the last three years, the 13-times major champion replied: "It just fits my eye.
"I have always liked it since junior golf and even with the changes, somehow I have continued to play well here," he added, referring to a revamp of the South Course in 2001.
Woods, who teed off in early morning rain, picked up his first shot at the par-four fourth where he rolled in an eight-foot putt.
Wearing a skin-tight, long-sleeved black shirt, he then chipped in for birdie from rough to the left of the green at the par-three eighth to reach the turn in two-under 34.
Refreshed after a five-week break with his family, Woods picked up further shots at the 10th, 11th, where he holed a 23-footer, 13th and 15th to get to six under.
He collected his only bogey at the par-three 16th, where he was short of the green off the tee and missed a 10-foot par putt, and failed to birdie the last after driving into the left rough.
Three-times champion Phil Mickelson, like Woods making his debut on the 2008 PGA Tour, returned a four-birdie 70 on the North Course.
- REUTERS