LA JOLLA (AFP) - Tiger Woods endured a rocky return at the Farmers Insurance Open in California on Thursday, posting the highest season-opening round of his career with a four-over 76.

Woods, playing his first full-field PGA Tour event since returning from more than a year off with a back injury, carded a bogey-strewn opening round on the Torrey Pines Golf Club's South Course.

It was anything but a happy return to the challenging coastal layout outside San Diego where the former world No. 1 has won no fewer than eight times in his career, most notably his epic 2008 US Open victory.

Woods' previous highest season-opening round was a 73 shot at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2015, according to PGA Tour officials.

The 41-year-old's round unravelled during the back nine, when three consecutive bogeys starting on the 12th were capped with a double-bogey on the 15th.

A further bogey on the 17th left him facing the prospect of finishing five over before a birdie on the last - nervelessly draining an awkward eight-foot putt - reduced the damage.

The round left Woods 11 shots off the early leader, England's Justin Rose, who posted a seven-under 65.