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Analyst: Tiger 'looks like an old man'

NEZAR BALOUT / AFP / Getty

While most were asleep early Thursday, Tiger Woods was struggling again at the game he dominated for over 15 years, this time in Dubai.

Woods posted a 5-over-par 77, a round that had five bogeys and no birdies on the scorecard, leaving him tied for 121st place. The score comes after he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open last week, a career first.

"I look at Tiger and I can't help but think he looks like an old man," said Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee. "He looks like the oldest 40-year-old or 41-year-old man in the history of the game."

The 79-time PGA Tour winner is returning after multiple back surgeries and many believe he's hiding an injury, less than two weeks into his return to competitive golf.

"I saw him getting out of the bunker on the first hole and he was standing very stiff and upright as he was getting out of the bunker. He looked like he was walking around protecting an issue he wasn't speaking to."

While Chamblee wasn't optimistic, 1996 British Open champion Tom Lehman did see things in his swing and play that were positives.

"I think he's using his feet, knees and his legs better in his golf swing, than he has in quite a while," said Lehman. "So when I look at Tiger and watch and see where he may go over the next few months. I see a ground up golf swing."

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