DORAL, Fla. (AP) " Tiger Woods returned to stroke play for the first time since winning the U.S. Open, and so much of it felt familiar except for the leaderboard.
His name was nowhere to be found Thursday at the CA Championship.
His wife, Elin, walked the back nine a month after giving birth to their son. It was her first time watching Woods play since Torrey Pines. Woods found himself more concerned with posting a score than beating one player, as was the case in match play two weeks ago.
The crowd was large, as usual for the Blue Monster, but shouts of "Welcome back!" were replaced by "Vamos, Tigre!"
But as players from all around the globe kept pouring in birdies " relative unknown players like Prayad Marksaeng and Jeev Milka Singh, followed by the familiar name of Phil Mickelson " Woods was stuck in the middle of the pack of an 80-man field.
Mickelson chipped in three times, twice while finishing with three straight birdies, on his way to a 7-under 65 that gave him a four-way share of the lead with Retief Goosen, Marksaeng and Singh. The group one shot behind included British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington.
Woods made only three birdies " two of them on par 5s " and had to settle for a 71 that put him in a tie for 40th.