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Woods, Na off to strong start at Greenbrier Classic

July 2, 2015

Tiger Woods tips his ball to the crowd after a birdie on the 16th hole during the first round of the Greenbrier Classic golf tournament at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Thursday, July 2, 2015. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Tiger Woods showed flashes of brilliance in Thursday’s opening round of the Greenbriar Classic in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

After double-bogeying his 15th hole, the veteran rattled off three consecutive birdies to finish with a 4-under 66.

Much of Woods’ on-course issues have been attributed to his mental approach according to analysts who have watched him hit perfect shot after perfect shot on practice facilities.

But the one late-round hiccup apparently had no bearing on the rest of his performance.

“Overall, if you drive the ball well here, you’re going to probably have at least seven shots with 9-iron or below into the greens, and you’re going to have to capitalize on that,” Woods said according to the Associated Press. “So far I’m one of those guys who did.”

Not only did he put his power on display, but he was consistently putting the ball in the fairway and reaching greens in regulation.

Woods is currently tied for 12th.

Korean American golfer Kevin Na has made it a habit to put himself near the top of the leaderboard early on in tournaments.

He did just that with a 5-under 65 including six birdies and a lone bogey on the front nine.

Uncharacteristically though, Na was below the field average in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation, but his reliable short game bailed him out on more than one occasion.

Na is tied for sixth.

American golfer Scott Langley leads the tournament by one stroke at 8-under.