TIGER WOODS birdied his last three holes to open with a two-under 69 in the Genesis Invitational as Rory McIlroy chiselled out a 67 to keep world number one rival Jon Rahm in his sights at Riviera.

Seeking a win that would see him replace Scottie Scheffler as world number one, Rahm threw down the gauntlet to McIlroy and Co early in the day when he opened with a six-under 65.

Scores

Keith Mitchell and Max Homa fired seven-under 64s to set the target for afternoon starters like Woods, McIlroy and PGA champion Justin Thomas.

But the marquee three-ball did not disappoint despite not firing on all cylinders.

McIlroy birdied the first and then ground out 10 straight pars before following a birdie four at the 11th with a chip-in birdie for a two at the 14th before following three pars with a birdie three to finish.

The four-time Major winner did not have his best stuff, but his 67 left him tied for eighth, just three shots off the lead, with Thomas finishing with two birdies for a 68 and joint 13th.

Despite all that, 15-time major winner Woods upstaged the younger guns in his first non-major start since the 2020 Zozo Championship by finishing with three birdies.

"Ebbs and flows," Woods said before heading off for treatment on his ankle. "It was nice that I had this unbelievable pairing, two great guys, two great friends."

He added: "I happened to actually hit some good shots finally and made a couple putts. Even though I had a little mishap at 10, I was able to fight back and get it going. It was a nice finish."

Woods said before the tournament he was in Los Angeles to win and he still believes a first victory at Riviera is possible.

"Absolutely, that's the only reason why I tee it up," he said. "There will come a point in time where I can't do this anymore, but right now, I feel like I still can, given the right golf course."

He outdrove McIlroy and Thomas consistently, hitting more fairways than the younger duo and producing enough moments of magic to suggest he can compete in the Masters in April.

"The way this golf course is playing right now, you watch Rory and JT and myself, we're all hitting these little like cheater kind of flighted ones and rolling the ball out there," Woods said.

"I'd have a little harder time if I guess Rory or JT, when it was wet and they can bomb it 320, but this golf course is set up where you can kind of scoot it, get it around and I was able to do that all day today."

The Californian birdied the first, bogeyed the par-three fourth after missing the green, then stiffed a wedged at the eighth to turn in one-under par.

He would bogey the driveable 10th after getting caught up in a bunker short left of the green and drop another shot at the difficult 12th.

But seeking a record 83rd PGA TOUR win, the 47-year-old ripped a 166-yard tee shot to five feet to birdie the iconic par-three 16th, then made a 24 footer for a birdie at the par-five17th after leaving himself a difficult pitch from the back of the green.

He then smiled and laughed after he made an eight-footer for a birdie three at the last to end his day inside the top 30 in his first tour start since The Open last year.

"Well, I think it's the group," Woods said of his smiles. "JT hoops one in there and Rory's been beating us all day. He's nervous as can be because he didn't want to be the one to miss on 18.

"I didn't want to be the idiot host to miss it right in front of everybody after I just went birdie-birdie."

McIlroy admitted he was nervous over his six-footer to match Woods and Thomas with birdies at the last.

"That wasn't pleasant," McIlroy said. "I felt -- he holed the one on 17 before me as well and I'm like, not again. Yeah, I certainly didn't want to be the only one not to make a birdie on 18, so that was a nice putt to hole."

As for his round, McIlroy did not play his best, but he went bogey-free in a tournament that Rahm says is the regular event that feels most like a Major.

"I didn't feel comfortable at all off the tee, but hit it in the right spots when I needed to and birdied the holes that you should," McIlroy said.

"Birdied 1, birdied 11, got that nice chip-in on 14. Would have been nice to birdie 17, but at the end of the day, it's a solid start."

As for being out-driven by Woods, he said: "I know, I'm going to go work on the range. I put my driver up a click in loft at the start of the week, I might have to turn it back down again. I don't like him hitting it by me."

Shane Lowry matched Woods with a two-under 69, but the 2019 Open champion will be disappointed with his return after making two eagle threes.

Coming off back-to-back missed cuts, the Clara man got off the perfect start by draining a 35-footer for eagle at the first.

While he would make a 20-footer for birdie at the eighth, chip in for eagle at the 11th and make an 11-footer for birdie at the 17th, his mistakes proved costly.

He took three to get down from just short of the seventh, missed from inside five feet at the 10th and three feet at the 13th for pars before taking three to get down from just short of the green at the 15th.

Seamus Power came back from two-over through eight holes to card a level par 71 that left him tied 56th in the clubhouse.