Tiger shoots 1-under at Muirfield Village in return to PGA Tour

Tiger Woods posted a 1-under 71 during Thursday's opening round at the Memorial Tournament, making his return from a five-month layoff at a difficult Muirfield Village Golf Club that was playing more like a U.S. Open than a regular PGA Tour stop.

The five-time Memorial winner didn't show any signs of rust with two birdies in his first three holes. But the windy conditions in Dublin, Ohio, prevented him from taking his score any lower, as Muirfield's setup was much firmer and faster than it was at last week's Workday Charity Open.

"I would like to have started with easier conditions. Wind pumping and swirling all over the place, and it was different," the 44-year-old said after his round.

Woods needed a birdie on the final hole to sign for an under-par opening round.

Tiger hit just eight of 14 fairways Thursday but made up for it with a brilliant day of iron play. He ended his round gaining nearly three strokes through approach shots and currently sits inside the top 20 on the leaderboard.

"I was very pleased the way I drove it, my feel for my irons," he said. "I just didn't quite hit the putts hard enough. Most of my putts were dying, didn't quite have enough oomph to it."

Rory McIlroy shot 2-under and Brooks Koepka turned in a 72 playing alongside Woods on Day 1.

The trio will start its second round at 8:17 a.m. ET on Friday.