Tiger Woods shot a 1-over 72 in the first round of the Genesis Open on Thursday on a roller coaster of a day that included five birdies, a double bogey and four bogeys. He was wild with his driver, mostly great with his short irons and tidy enough on the greens to stay in the conversation for another made cut and potential run on the weekend.

Riviera Country Club has never been a course that has suited Woods particularly well. He's never won here, and he hasn't played the course since 2006. His return, all things considered, has been a success. Woods started hot with a birdie at his first hole of the day (the short, 306-yard par-4 10th), but it got crazy after that (more on that below). He went out in 1-over 37 with just three pars and came home in even par for the 72.

At the time he finished, Woods was T50 with half the field left to play in the afternoon wave. Here are five takeaways from Woods' fifth round of 2018.

1. Better off the tee, but the misses were awful: After hitting just 17 fairways over four rounds at the Farmers Insurance Open, Woods hit 8 of 14 in Round 1 at Riviera. That sounds better, but he still lost strokes to the field off the tee because his misses visited every part of the greater Los Angeles area. Woods' final drive of the day on the 9th hole ended up in the 10th bunker. Of his six missed fairways, this was one of the better spots.

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Golf Channel

To that point, the splits between his scoring on Thursday was stark.

On 8 hit fairways: 4 under
On 6 missed fairways: 5 over

Woods made just one bogey when hitting fairways. If he can somehow figure out how to find the short grass off the tee, his scoring should improve from there.

2. Monster hacks: As time wears on, we will all become more comfortable with Woods taking huge hacks out of thick rough. I'm still not there yet. He took at least two massive chops at it during Thursday's round. 

The first was a cutter out of the rough at the par-4 12th in which he contorted his spine into unfathomable positions. The second came at the par-4 5th after a sideways drive. Woods was in the deep stuff and put everything he had into just getting it back into the fairway. He was successful, but I watched with my fingers over my eyes.

3. Putter still strong: Woods hit just seven greens in regulation and still hung around (more on that in a minute). He hit several long par putts and lipped out a few others. Woods gained nearly two strokes on the field with his putter. It's been fun to watch his aggression on the greens. Oftentimes, he'll run a putt five or six feet past with supreme confidence in making it on the way back. 

4. Psycho scorecard: One of my pal Shane Bacon's favorite tropes is the psycho scorecard of the week. It's a regular-looking score that was achieved in the most unimaginable way possible. A 72, say, that was notched with four doubles, two bogeys, eight birdies, an eagle and three pars. Woods' wasn't the craziest I've ever seen, but he certainly made a go at it early on. 

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Depending on how you look at it, this could be either good or bad. Woods said after the Farmers Insurance Open that he feels uncomfortable going super low. He proved on Thursday that on a tough course he could string together some low numbers (or "go super low"), but he's so wild off the tee that it's unsustainable over 18 holes. 

His first four holes were a microcosm of this. He birdied the first hole of the day (the tricky 10th at Riviera) before a lost tee shot on No. 11 and awful drive on No. 12 resulted in a double bogey and bogey consecutively. Then he got it back at No. 13 with a 14-foot birdie putt, and whew, that's 1 over through four very eventful holes. That's no way to contend for tournaments, but I supposed it speaks to his ability to fight for level par, which for him at the moment, is kind of a win.

5. A good sign: One thing that has struck me about this entire comeback is the way that we, both in the media and as fans, perceive it. There has been a natural shift from "will the back even hold up?" to "how is he going to contend hitting it like that off the tee?" over the last few months. This will continue into the future, and it's a good thing. It means that Woods' umpteenth comeback actually has staying power because now we're talking (and he's thinking) about how he can stick around for the weekend and beyond, not how he can even make it to the course on a Thursday morning.

Woods will go off with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas on Friday in Round 2 at 3:02 p.m. ET.