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There were a ton of good things that came from the first round of the Chevron World Challenge for Tiger Woods. He hit some great shots. He made some early putts. He’s in the hunt at an event he nearly won a year ago.

But we would be remiss if we didn’t show you the video of Tiger struggling with the rough on the ninth hole on Thursday. Sitting at 4-under, Tiger hit his tee shot on the left rough and his ball was deep in the Sherwood cabbage. He took a mighty swing, tried to advance it, and he did that, but it’s seldom you see a pro take a full swing and barely get the ball airborne.

Take a look …

Tiger managed a bogey out of that, played the back nine even par, and is just three shots back of leader K.J. Choi, but it’s incredible that as much power as Tiger can create, some rough just isn’t playable.

For such a nondescript spot on the calendar, the first weekend in December certainly has a ton of great golf going on. Almost all of the sport’s biggest names and top players are in action … albeit tens of thousands of miles away from each other.

If you ever needed any more proof that golf is truly a global game, here it is. In Hong Kong, Rory McIlroy joined Alvaro Quiros and David Horsey (not a big name, but a big day) in setting a course-record 64 en route to leading the UBS Hong Kong Open in the first round. Not bad for the wee fella; he’s the one in the white on board the harbor ship above.

Next, we move about 6,600 miles to the west, to South Africa, where a couple of notable fellows in Lee Westwood and Charl Schwartzel lead the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City. Both players came in at 68; Westwood rolled in a 20-footer for birdie on 18, while Schwartzel — stop me if this sounds familiar — unleashed a birdie arsenal on the back nine to drop from one over at the turn to four under in the clubhouse. Two strokes back? World No. 1 Luke Donald, plus Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell, among others.

And get ready to rack up some more frequent flier miles, as we journey the more than 10,000 miles from South Africa to California. There, 18 of the world’s best players are competing in the charity-plus Chevron World Challenge tournament, and hey, look who’s right there within sight of the top of the leaderboard: Tiger Woods, coming in at -3, just behind KJ Choi.

Not a bad weekend of golf. Going to be something when all these cats end up on the same course together in Augusta, won’t it?

There’s no other event quite like the Chevron World Challenge. It’s basically a money-grab for the best players in the world, a $5 million purse divided amongst 18 players with even DFL getting $140,000. Not bad for four days work.

And it’s got standing on the Official World Golf Rankings, too, which helps immensely in drawing the best of the best. Because of that, it had to put in some restrictions which very nearly forced it to lock out its host and most attractive draw, though.

Here’s the deal: The Chevron takes the top 16 golfers in the world rankings who accept invites, plus two sponsor exemptions. But those exemptions have to be in the top 50 in the world rankings. Guess who was sliding, sliding, sliding toward that top-50 cliff right when the Chevron needed to make its invitations?

Yep, Tiger Woods. He made it, slowing to a stop at No. 49 on the date exemptions were announced, but oh, it was close. (Bill Haas got the other exemption.)

On Wednesday, Woods held his usual pre-tournament press conference, and it was the usual mix of “things are getting better” confidence and cliches, with a couple of peek-behind-the-curtain zingers thrown in. (Woods conceded that he’s “swinging the club well enough that you don’t need to walk out there with hockey helmets on.”)

For those tracking Tiger’s progress, good news: He claims he’s mastered the wind again. “Normally anybody who makes swing changes … you get exposed in the wind,” he said. “I felt very comfortable in that wind [in Australia], which was great, because you know, full circle, last year at Dubai, I felt I should have won the golf tournament. A right‑to‑left wind cost me eight shots on certain holes, and I didn’t have the ability to maneuver the ball left to right at the time … Playing in Aus for two weeks, it was fantastic.  I hit all shapes, all trajectories, and if you look at the rounds, I hit most of my shots pin high, and you know, that’s an indication if the wind’s blowing that hard, that I’m really controlling my trajectory.”

Beyond that, not much. He will play in a new event in 2012, though he didn’t disclose which one. He feels like he’s making progress. And his expectations for this week? “It’s the same.  Just place the ball in correct spots and get the W.” Easy enough, right?