Tiger Woods shoots adventurous 73 in comeback

It was not the kind of comeback the golf world expected.

Tiger Woods slashed his way round Augusta National in the opening round and carved out an at times ugly one-over 73 to sit five shots off leader Henrik Stenson.

He started in somewhat typical fashion by spraying one off the first tee. Woods, who has struggled with the driver during this latest comeback, opted to hit a 3-wood for his opening shot but carved one left into the galleries, catching a patron on the arm.

On the front nine it was hard to work out whether he was playing safe, or just playing poorly. In all likelihood, it was a probably a combination of both. 

At 11, he missed the fairway then tried to hit a big hook only to send patrons flying as his ball careered into the crowd. Then, at 12, he rinsed one into the water but holed a 16-footer for bogey.

At 13, he found the pine straw off the tee and then smashed another ball into the crowd.

He got things back on track with a birdie at 14 but then found the crowd again with a wild drive at 15. A birdie at 16 and two closing pars left him in the pack on one-over.

For all the talk of his 129mph swing speed, he played the par-5s in level par.