Fleetwood made a mockery of his first appearance in the star-studded elite 18-man event with his display in bright but testing windy conditions on the Albany course in the Bahamas.
The 26-year old Fleetwood sent the St.George flag to the top of the mast with four outward nine birdies and then back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15.
Woods ended his round soon after and while he spoke confidently of now being able to claim a sixth Hero World Challenge success he was asked his opinion of the mob-topped Fleetwood.
“He’s been fantastic,” said Woods.
“I think I first got a pretty good glimpse of him this year in Mexico, he played really well there and he’s had a very consistent year.
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“He’s one of our better ball-strikers. His putting stance and grip is unorthodox, but he rolls it well.
“You can see how fast the ball rolls off the face, and so he’s just coming into his own, he’s just learning how to play at this elite level and is maturing and progressing solidly.”
Fleetwood was met after his round by soon-to-be wife, Clare Craig and despite having been up at 4am to feed his young son, Frankie the Englishman was wide-eyed and naturally delighted with his effort.
“Frankie woke-up about 4am so I fed him and went back to bed but then I got back up and had a bit of toast and then a couple hours later we woke up again and had more play time with Frankie and then went to the course,” he said.
“I had a really great start. I played really well, got off to a nice start.
“The first five holes I hit a lot of good shots and felt like I had a good rhythm and a couple birdies early on. Just carried on really. The front nine, 4 under on the front nine is a good start to the day.
“I just played solid. I didn’t make a bogey and really good par to finish the round off.
“This is my sixth event in a sixth country in a row so obviously a lot of energy management stuff, there’s not much going to the gym this week.
“I don’t want to do any more than I have to. There’s jet lag in there so I’ve been up early the last few morning with the baby as well, so there’s plenty to do in the mornings.
“But I feel fine. Obviously I’ve been swinging it well. It helps if you’re swinging it well and you don’t actually have to put too much effort into.
“It’s not like you have to grind on the range. Just keep monitoring where I am, make sure I make the adjustments that I need to. This morning I did 45 minutes putting before breakfast, just make sure that your time management’s good. I feel fine. It’s a great place to end the year on.
“It’s not exactly energy sucking being out here and I’m just having a good time and I feel absolutely fine. I’m lifting weights every day. I feel fine.”