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Tiger Tracker: Follow Tiger Woods' The Players Championship Thursday round

Follow Tiger Woods with this hole-by-hole tracker.
Tiger Woods plays his shot from the first tee during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass- Stadium Course. (Photo: Peter Casey, USA TODAY Sports)

After a disappointing performance on the greens at last week's Wells Fargo Championship, Tiger Woods is back on the course at this week's The Players Championship, the PGA Tour's signature event.

Commonly known as golf's fifth major due to it's prestige on Tour, famed TPC Sawgrass course and large winners purse, Woods has won the event twice (2001 and 2013) in 17 appearances. He hasn’t played the tournament since 2015, when he tied for 69th.

Woods is one of only six players to win the Players multiple times. Jack Nicklaus is the only three-time winner of the event (1974, 1976 and 1978). The other multiple champions are Fred Couples (1984, 1996), Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Hal Sutton (1983, 2000) and Davis Love III (1992, 2003).

Woods tees off in a star-studded group at 1:52 p.m. ET alongside Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler. Mickelson won the event in 2007 and Fowler recently won in 2015.

Follow his round with our hole-by-hole tracker throughout the day:

Hole 18 - Par 4

With water all the way down the left-side of the fairway, Tiger pulls an iron to play it safe but finds the water anyway. Tiger takes his penalty strokes and hits his third shot long and right, leaving a tough up-and-down to get bogey. His chip comes up short, but he converts the bogey save. Even 72 for the day.

Mickelson (+7), Fowler (+2)

Hole 17 - Par 3

No. 17: the famed island green at TPC Sawgrass. Tiger is +10 on this hole in 63 rounds, and his tee shot lands towards the back of the green and runs to the fringe, just on the edge before falling into the water (Phil and Rickie both found the water short). Tiger played the slope of the green pretty well, leaving it short but setting up a par. 1-under thru 17.

Mickelson (+7), Fowler (+2)

Hole 16 – Par 5

Grip it. Rip it. Twirl it. Tiger likes this one off the tee as it finds the fairway. His approach lands on the green but runs off to the back-left. Tiger goes putter here and runs it up right next to the hole, setting up a tap-in birdie. 1-under thru 16.

Mickelson (+5), Fowler (E)

Hole 15 - Par 4

Oof. Tiger's tee shot finds a right fairway bunker and lies close to the edge. Standing one foot in the bunker, one foot out, he finds a way to punch this one straight out and in the fairway. Not too shabby. His bump-and-run chip is quite useful, but he blows the par putt. Bogey. Even thru 15.

Mickelson (+3), Fowler (E)

Hole 14 - Par 4

Tiger pulls driver off the tee and finds the right rough. He hit his approach shot almost too smoothly, landing the ball next to the cup, but it takes a big hop and runs off the green to the back. He manages to get up-and-down, saving par with a 15-footer. 1-under thru 14.

Mickelson (+2), Fowler (+1)

Leaderboard update: Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch!

Hole 13 - Par 3

Tiger's tee shot nails the green but catches a slope and refuses to slow down. He's got a birdie putt, but it's far. Two-putt par once again. 1-under thru 13.

Mickelson (E), Fowler (+1)

Hole 12 – Par 4

The short par 4 is reachable, but Tiger lays up with an iron, leaving a great chance to get up-and-down for birdie. Tiger flips this one up on the green, nice and cozy next to the hole. Chirp-chirp-chirp. Birdie on No. 12 drops Tiger to 1-under thru 12.

Mickelson (E), Fowler (E)

Hole 11 – Par 5

More trouble off the tee. Tiger's shot goes right and lands in the pine straw among a cluster of trees. Tiger punched out to the fairway, setting up a third shot at the green that lands and nestles on the front-edge of the green beneath the hole. He gave the birdie putt a run but it misses just left. Par. Even thru 11.

Mickelson (E), Fowler (-1)

Hole 10 – Par 4

Momentum shmo-mentum. Coming off an eagle on No. 9 Tiger's tee shot finds the left bunker that runs along the fairway. His approach from the beach goes long and lands on the fringe. The putt from the fringe comes up short and his 7-footer for par drops. Even thru 10.

Mickelson (+1), Fowler (-1)

Thoughts at the turn

Tiger just wasn't firing on all cylinders early, failing to take advantage of the first par 5 and then dropping a shot on a par 3. Then he hit a perfect drive and perfect approach, finally taking advantage of his length on a par 5. This momentum could be exactly what Tiger needs as he makes the turn to the back-nine.

Hole 9 – Par 5

YAHTZEE! MASHED POTATOES! GET IN THE HOLE! Tiger smoked his driver 349 yards off the tee and into the fairway. His second shot lands on the green and runs to the back edge on the fringe for a look at eagle. The putt slowly trickled it's way to the bottom of the cup. He's back to even at the turn, carding a 36 on the front-nine.

Mickelson (+2), Fowler (-1)

Hole 8 – Par 3

This 236-yard par 3 is anything but easy. Tiger hit a great tee shot that landed on the green but just kept running to the back-end. Not a great result, but it was a great swing. Nothing else to see here, two-putt par. 2-over thru 8.

Mickelson (+1), Fowler (E)

Hole 7 – Par 4

Tiger misses the fairway with a 3-wood, finding the first-cut rough to the right. You might've heard this one before, but Tiger's approach finds the green to the right of the hole, leaving for another look at birdie. Nope. It rolls slowly to the right of the cup, leaving another tap-in for par. 2-over thru 7.

Mickelson (+1), Fowler (E)

Hole 6 - Par 4

Tiger stared this one down and for good reason. His tee shot stripes the fairway, but may have landed in an old divot. All good here as his approach lands nice and tight close to the hole, but another birdie putt evades him. The struggle with his putter continues. Par. 2-over thru 6.

Mickelson (E), Fowler (E)

Hole 5 - Par 4

Tiger pulled the big dog again and misses right again. Thankfully it didn't catch the water or sand and appears to be tee'd up nicely in the rough. The lie was worse than we thought or he just mis-hit this one, as it misses the green to the right. His pitch didn't get close enough, leaving a difficult par put that JUST misses. Another bogey. 2-over thru 5.

Mickelson (E), Fowler (E)

Hole 4 - Par 4

Just like Phil, Tiger pulls iron here on No. 4, and he smoked his low-flying stinger shot right down the fairway. Tiger was pin-seeking on is approach, which lands short of the hole and checks up for a look at birdie. So. Close. The putt had the right line once again but not the right pace, leaving a tap-in par. 1-over thru 4.

Mickelson (-1), Fowler (E)

Hole 3 - Par 3

Par 3's have been a struggle for Woods all season, and he misses this one to the right. Silver lining: right is where you want to miss on No. 3. Uh-oh. Tiger's chip was good, not great, leaving a somewhat short but definitely not easy par put. He misses and taps in for bogey. 1-over thru 3.

Mickelson (-1), Fowler (E)

LEADERBOARD UPDATE: Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson and Alex Noren all shot 6-under 66's to tie for the early lead. Jhonattan Vegas, Si Woo Kim, Keith Mitchell and Rory Sabbatini are T2 at 5-under.

Hole 2 - Par 5

Tiger attempts to play it safe with a 3-wood off the tee, but flares it into the right trees on the pine straw. After his ball landed behind a tree, he was forced to chip out to the fairway, setting up a third-shot approach to the green that lands about 50-feet away. His birdie putt never had a chance, coming up short and a little left. His 6-footer for par drops, leaving Tiger at even thru 2.

Mickelson (-1), Fowler (E)

Hole 1 – Par 4

Tiger pulls driver off the first tee and it leans a little right, settling down in the rough. His approach lands safely on the green leaving a 20-plus foot putt for birdie. The putt had the right line but not enough speed, checking up about a foot short. Par. Even thru 1.

Mickelson (E), Fowler (E)

Follow Adam Woodard on Twitter @adamwoodard.

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