ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – No momentous shots for Tiger Woods. No bogeys, either.

The 14-time major winner opened his 2012 season with a solid first round Thursday at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, shooting a 2-under 70 that left him three strokes behind co-leader Rory McIlroy, his playing partner.

“Hit the ball well all day today. It was a good ball-striking round,” Woods said. “I had a hard time reading the greens out there. The greens were pretty grainy, and I just had a hard time getting a feel for it. Toward the end I hit some pretty good putts, but overall I got fooled a lot on my reads.”

McIlroy shot a 67, as did Robert Karlsson. But the best shots of the day came from Sergio Garcia (71) and Jose Manuel Lara (70) – each had a hole-in-one on the par-3 12th hole.

Gareth Maybin, Richard Finch and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet were one shot behind the two leaders. Top-ranked Luke Donald, who played alongside Woods and McIlroy, shot a 71. Second-ranked Lee Westwood (72) and fourth-ranked Martin Kaymer (77) had poor starts and never challenged.

Coming off a seven-week layoff, Woods has said he is fitter than he has been in years and brimming with confidence following his victory at the Chevron World Challenge last month.

PGA: Spencer Levin and Kyle Stanley knew they had to post low scores on the easier North Course at Torrey Pines to get off to a good start in the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego. It went even better than they expected.

They were a shot ahead of FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas. The top 12 on the leader board played on the North. The best score from the South Course was Marc Turnesa at 66.

Phil Mickelson went south on the South. He had a 77, his worst score at Torrey Pines since a 78 in 2005.