• WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Round One

Woods makes impressive return

Tiger Woods rolls a putt © Getty Images

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Tiger Woods showed flashes of brilliance on his return to competitive action at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, although there were still some signs of rust.

The American carded a two-under par total of 68 in his first full round in nearly four months, carding one bogey and three birdies - all on the back nine - in a display that hinted his game is in good shape and his knee is not causing him any real problems.

Woods started tentatively, missing the fairway with both of his opening drives and scrambling to make par. Indeed, the 35-year-old would go on to par every hole on the front nine - preserving his scorecard with some sizeable par putts on a couple of holes, but missing makeable birdie chances on others.

The back nine saw him come to life, however, as the 14-time major champion made birdies on both the 10th and 11th to jump to two-under for the tournament. With old friend Bryon Bell on the bag the American seemed to be comfortable on the course if occasionally unsure in his club selection, but overall showing little sign he was missing 13-year bag-man Steve Williams.

After a first bogey of the round on 14 - following a soft bunker shot that left him putting from the fringe - it was the long par-five 16th that perhaps best encapsulated Woods' return. A wild drive put him out of position in the right-hand rough, before he tested his reconstructed knee to its maximum with a violent fade around a tree with a three-wood that found the centre of the fairway.

Having overcome that challenge, however, his straightforward pitch shot was uncharacteristically sloppy - yet he holed the resulting 30-foot for birdie to return to two-under with two holes still to play.

Those he would both par - with the last seeing yet another great up-and-down - to card a 68 that leaves him happily in contention.

"It felt good today, I was hitting the ball really flush. I haven't hit it this flush in a long time," Woods said afterwards. "I've got more speed and more compression through impact. With the heat, I was hitting numbers [distances] I haven't hit before.

"I'm right there. Three rounds to go and I'll try to keep going lower and plug my way around the golf course."

His playing partner, Darren Clarke, had a tougher time of things, however - carding a seven-over round of 77 despite eagling the eighth after a pinpoint approach shot.

The early leader, however, was Adam Scott - who carded a deeply impressive round of 62 with Woods' old caddie, Williams, on his bag. Compatriot Jason Day was his nearest challenger, the Australian finding birdies on his first and last holes of the day - and five more in between - on the way to a blistering round of 63 that had given him the early top spot at seven-under.

Both Lee Westwood and Luke Donald also made solid starts on Thursday. The two top-ranked players in the world wasted little time in getting under par at Firestone Country Club, with Westwood carding a three-under par round of 67 and Donald making 16 pars and two birdies on the way to a 68.

Donald's 68 was matched by US Open champion Rory McIlroy, who started his round on the 10th and had an eagle and a birdie on his inward nine to help him make a positive start in Akron.

Scott was three ahead of Nick Watney and three shots clear of a whole group of players - including Thomas Bjorn, Rory Sabbatini and Brandt Snedeker - while Phil Mickelson matched Westwood's opening effort to sit four off the pace.

Sergio Garcia was another player at two-under after making birdie on two of his final three holes, with former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy also at the same score.

However, not everyone enjoyed such a productive opening round. Graeme McDowell signed for a one-over par round of 73 despite reaching the turn three-under, while Masters champion Charl Schwartzel sat near the foot of the field after a underwhelming round of 74.

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