Return of Woods dominates the talk

LOS ANGELES OPEN:PHIL MICKELSON must be wondering what he has to do to emerge from the long, looming shadow of Tiger Woods.

Just as the left-hander was applying the last brushstrokes to a superlative opening round of 63, the world number one announced his return to the game exactly 24 hours before last night’s deadline for next week’s WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship.

Then, just minutes after Mickelson had extended his lead here with a brilliant eagle three at the opening hole, Woods was hanging up the phone after a teleconference that was destined to capture all the headlines in today’s American papers.

Asked whether he had any concerns about his first competitive round since June, Woods replied: “I think it’s whether or not my game’s sharp.

“It’s one thing to do it in a practice environment at home against some buddies for a little bit of cash, but it’s a totally different deal to do it in a PGA Tour event against the best players in the world.

“That’s something that I’m looking forward to, the challenge, and I’m really excited about getting on out there and experiencing that excitement again.”

The news was welcomed by his other professionals.

“The game needs him, the game misses him,” said Graeme McDowell, who was left sweating on the projected, one-under-par cut line after grinding out a level par 71 in brilliant sunshine. “It is going to be great for the tournament next week.

“It says a lot about what he is. He is the game of golf in the world right now. There is nothing else to it and no one complains when he takes over things media-wise, because he is the man. It is good to see him back.”

As McDowell sweated on the range to knock the rust off his game, world number three Pádraig Harrington was facing a steep, uphill battle to avoid missing the cut for the second week in a row and the fourth time in his last six PGA Tour starts.

Starting the day tied for 121st place on one over, Harrington failed to birdie the easy, par-five first and soon found himself four shots outside the cut mark when he bogeyed the second and fourth.

Barring any late withdrawals, the Dubliner will face Bob Hope Classic-winner Pat Perez in the first round at Dove Mountain near Tucson next week, and a failure in Los Angeles was the last thing he needed as he battles to knock his game into shape.

“A man in form,” he mused, when he was told of the provisional matchplay draw.

Yesterday, Perez finished with three straight birdies for a 66 that lifted him comfortably into the top 10 on seven under par.

But it was more of a struggle for McDowell, who is playing just his second event of the season after finishing tied 24th in the Dubai Desert Classic three weeks ago.

The Portrush native birdied the first to get to two under for the tournament, but bogeyed the fifth and then dropped another shot at the par-three sixth, where he was stymied by the yawning bunker in the middle of his green and three-putted.

He then followed a birdie at the par five 11th with a sloppy bogey at the short 14th that left him outside the projected cut on even par.

But he produced a sensational, 189-yard six-iron to six inches at the 15th, saved par from seven feet at the next and then parred the last two holes to post a one-under par total he hoped would be enough to guarantee him another two rounds at an event where he missed the cut in 2005 and 2005.

McDowell said: “Another two rounds here are going to be huge for me. But I am going to be sweating in more ways than one. Sweating on the range and sweating on the cut line.

“It was a grind today but I think if you’d watched me for the first two rounds in Dubai, you’d have seen something pretty similar.

“I am just rusty. That is the only way to describe it. I am hitting some really good shots and I am hitting some very average ones and throwing a lot of shots away in and around the greens. Yesterday I let two or three silly shots get away from me. Today was something similar really.

“I am trying to stay patient out there but it is early in the season.”

Americans Steve Stricker and Tommy Armour both shot 66 in perfect conditions to grab the early clubhouse lead on eight under par as overnight leader Mickelson followed his eagle at the first with bogeys at the second and sixth to drop back.

But the talk of the town was still the return of Woods and how rusty he will be in Tucson.

“There is no doubt that he is very good at getting himself back after long periods away from the game,” McDowell said.

“He will lack a little competitive sharpness, especially when you haven’t been in the mix for a long time and you haven’t holed out or played at that level of intensity.

“Next week is probably a good week to come back because he has most guys beaten on the first tee anyway. That helps.”