Woods' 65 keeps him alive, signals his return

NORTON, Mass. –- John Senden, for one, was not surprised in the least.

As for the golf world in general, decide for yourself.

World No. 1 Tiger Woods had started the Deutsche Bank Championship by practically falling down in the blocks, then corrected himself late in the day to climb out of last place in the 99-man field.

Tiger Woods has reason to smile on this day as he matches his best score of the year. (AP)

All of a sudden, with Woods starting to grasp the nuances of his newly tweaked swing, there's a difference between dead last and a dead man walking.

"The last four or five holes yesterday, he looked great," said Senden, who played with Woods both days. "I knew he'd come out this morning strong out of the box."

He actually kept the little square boxes off his scorecard –- in the PGA Tour scoring computer, those represent bogeys –- for the first time all year Saturday at TPC Boston.

Woods equaled his best score of the year with a 6-under 65 that ensured he will play the rest of the weekend, and helped cement his presence next week in the third stop in the FedEx Cup series. He's still doing more of a heel-toe walk than his usual confident stride, but he's getting there.

"I'm in a learning curve, still learning to put this thing together," he said. "I'm going to have off days."

Woods not only matched his best score of the year, but recorded his first bogey-free round of the year, shaking off the vestiges of his early header on Friday, when he was a bloody 4 over after his first six holes of the week. It had been 13 months since his last bogey-free effort, dating to the first round of the PGA Championship last year.

As ever, whenever Woods is entered in the field, there are two primary storylines that develop: Who is winning the tournament and what's Woods doing? This year, they haven't intertwined much. He hasn't contended.

That's seems destined to change. Maybe not this week, but soon.

"He certainly brought out his A game," Senden said. "He was a little out of synch yesterday, but today was great. His rhythm and ball-striking was back to where he'd want it. He's always dangerous."

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OK, the last part is a bit of a stretch, since Woods hasn't thrown a scare into a Sunday leaderboard all year and his miseries over that time have been well-documented. But after opening with a 65 last week at The Barclays, and playing just as well on Sunday with a closing 67, the stride and strut gradually are returning.

In fact, the 65 on Saturday probably represented the highest possible score he could have posted. He missed six birdie putts from inside 17 feet, although he only groused about one poor putt, when he missed from six feet on the 16th hole. The putting, obviously, continues to be a source of concern, separate from the swing change, which is only four weeks old.

"It was a clean card today," he said. "Could have been a little bit lower. I missed a few out there, but overall with the wind blowing like this, it's a little bit swirly and a little bit gusty, I feel very pleased with the number I was able to post."

Very pleased. Words seldom spoken in 2010 as it relates to Woods and, well, anything.

His semi-official swing coach, Sean Foley, went back to Orlando on Friday night, but Woods already seemed to have figured out his misfires by then. Saturday, he was having no such issues, hitting 10 of 14 fairways and largely fixing the big hook that dogged him off the tee a day earlier.

"He played great golf today," said Michael Sim, who, like Senden, played both rounds with Woods this week. "He was 330 [yards] in the middle all day. He was 40 [yards] by me all day."

Which beats going bye-bye.

After opening with a 1-over 72, Woods needed to make the cut in order to advance to next week third event in the FedEx series in Chicago, where he is the defending champion. Other than when tournament playing dates have been moved or because of injury, Woods has always defended his titles over the years. After his first-round stumble, Boot Hill looked like his destination, not Cog Hill.

According to PGA Tour projections, he needs to finish 57th or better Monday to ensure that he advances, which barring a Labor Day meltdown, seems a fairly safe assumption. Especially since he is inarguably gaining his confidence back with every passing week.

It's happening, people. The skid marks were never going to last forever. Whether he reclaims all of his former mojo will make for fascinating viewing, but some of it's already returned. Some of it hasn't -- both Senden and Sim whipped him by three shots over their 36 holes together.

So the intimidation and aura things still needs polishing.

"It's getting better," Woods said. "It takes time. Just like this whole change, any change you make, it's going to take time, and just continue to do reps."

Who knows, he might even regain his rep in the process.