The 32-year-old Woods added six more birdies in an ominous opening round, which could have been even better had his greenside chip for an eagle on the par-five 10th not stopped centimeters from the cup.
South Africa's Andrew McLardy, who got to six under through 15 holes, was the only player who threatened to overtake Woods late in the day but a bogey at the last dropped him into the 11-way tie for second.
"I had two good days of practice the last couple of days and started to hit the ball a lot better than I did last week."
Tiger Woods |
Woods said that he felt he had played better on Thursday than at any stage last week at Torrey Pines, despite the margin of his victory.
"I played pretty well and hit a bunch of good shots out there. I hit the golf ball a lot more clean today and shaped the ball better, so much better than last week when I just made a lot of putts. Couldn't have asked for a better start," Woods said.
"I had two good days of practice the last couple of days and started to hit the ball a lot better than I did last week."
With only a slight breeze and in perfect playing conditions, birdies were in abundance and before Woods took over, Sweden's Pelle Edberg set the pace with a 67 that included six birdies and one bogey.
Edberg's five-under total was surpassed by Woods and matched by ten others including Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spanish Ryder Cup veteran, who played the shot of the morning with a hole-in-one at the seventh using a six-iron from 186 yards.
Traffic jam behind Woods
The others to finish the day two shots off the pace were Indian pair Jeev Milka Singh and Jyoti Randhawa, France's Thomas Levet, Abu Dhabi Championship winner Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Scott Hend of Australia, Gary Murphy of Ireland, Simon Dyson of England and McLarty.
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"I left two or three shots out there but it's the beginning of the year and I'm still a bit rusty."
Sergio Garcia |
Spain's Sergio Garcia, looking to get back into the world top 10, was bunched in a 14-strong group of players on four-under 68.
Garcia said he was using Dubai to put his game in place for the rest of a year in which he hoped to finally win his first major title after the heartbreak of his playoff loss to Padraig Harrington at last year's British Open.
"I left two or three shots out there but it's the beginning of the year and I'm still a bit rusty," Garcia said.
"But it's slowly getting better and I've just got to keep doing the things I've been doing and if he (Woods) doesn't run away with it, try to fight for it."
Joining Garcia on four-under were the two men seen as the main threats to put an end to Woods' winning run, defending champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden and three-time former winner Ernie Els.