GOLF US TOUR NEWS:TIGER WOODS said the fun had returned to his game after a self-imposed exile but the numbers he posted during yesterday's opening round of the Quail Hollow Championship in North Carolina will have done little to bolster the mood.
The world number one slumped to a two-over 74 and was a considerable nine shots off the lead held by American Bo Van Pelt, who shot a flawless 65 at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, where Ireland’s Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy, like Woods, made their first appearances since the Masters. Van Pelt led by three from a chasing pack on four under that included the American pair of Paul Goydos and Billy Mayfair, Australian Geoff Ogilvy plus Colombia’s Camilo Villegas (after 13 holes).
Van Pelt has tried 10 different blades this year before finally deciding to refurbish the putter he used when he won in July. “I was changing putters all the time and trying new stuff and finally went back to an old putter I had used for about four and a half years that I won with last year.
“I guess I’ve got a lot of good feelings with that putter so it was just good to have it back in my hands,” he said.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson was two under through 13 holes while Lee Westwood, his nearest challenger at Augusta, shot 73.
As expected huge galleries turned out to witness Woods compete in his first regular USPGA Tour event since his five-month absence from the game. The high volume of security guards around Woods’ group was highly visible too. His reappearance on the main circuit was a different affair to the controlled environment at Augusta but there was little to fear as the only “Boo” chants were for that of Boo Weekley, playing in a group behind Woods.
After starting on the back nine Woods birdied the par five 10th as the crowds erupted with one fan yelling: “It’s good to have you back, Tiger.” The 34-year-old acknowledged the support with approving nods but on the whole there was little to cheer about.
Glimpses of magic appeared from a round containing four birdies, but ultimately, Woods was made to pay for too many errant tee shots. “It was a terrible day to begin with,” said a disappointed Woods afterwards. “I just didn’t have it today.”
Aside from birdies at the second, fifth, eighth and 10th he also had four bogeys plus a double bogey at the par three 17th after finding water.
His driving was so erratic he twice found water and made a couple of excursions into the trees.
“I didn’t hit the ball very good at all. I had a two-way miss with everything. I didn’t know which way I was going to go, left or right,” added Woods. Two balls in the water, and pretty much struggled all day. I had my head down struggling. I was dropping balls out of hazards and finding balls in trees.”
Three of his birdies came in a seven-hole spell from the second but it was a poor day at the office and time spent on the range afterwards was quickly dismissed.
“I’m not going to the range today. (To) hell with it,” he said.
Towards the end McIlroy wasn’t having much fun on the course either but he still managed to card an opening level-par 72.
The 20-year-old’s round promised so much more after he got to three under through 11 but his game then became untidy. A bogey at 12 was followed by a double-bogey six at the 16th to undo all his earlier good work.
Harrington started on the back nine and traded two bogeys against as many birdies from the 12th before a third bogey came at the 18th. The Dubliner was just as inconsistent on the front nine, three birdies tempered by another pair of bogeys as he finished on level par.
Collated first round scores
(USA unless stated, par 72):
65Bo Van Pelt
66Kenny Perry
67Camilo Villegas (Col)
68Brad Faxon, J J Henry, Paul Goydos, Andres Romero (Arg), Billy Mayfair, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)
69Brian Stuard, Ricky Barnes, Garth Mulroy (Rsa), Heath Slocum, Cameron Percy (Aus)
70Brendon De Jonge, Nick Watney, Scott McCarron, Rodney Pampling (Aus), Davis Love III, Greg Chalmers (Aus), Harrison Frazar, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Bubba Watson, Alex Cejka (Ger), Phil Mickelson, Rocco Mediate, Brandt Snedeker, Troy Matteson
71Vaughn Taylor, Zach Johnson, Jeff Overton, Tim Herron, Lucas Glover, David Toms, Ben Curtis, David Duval, Will MacKenzie, Hunter Mahan, Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Mark Calcavecchia, Robert Allenby (Aus), Bill Haas, Tom Gillis
72Charley Hoffman, Ross Fisher (Eng), Kevin Sutherland, James Nitties (Aus), Alex Prugh, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), Chad Campbell, Chris Tidland, Rory McIlroy(NIrl), Sean O'Hair, Martin Laird (Sco), Henrik Bjornstad (Nor), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Kris Blanks, John Merrick, Stewart Cink, D.A. Points, Kevin Na, Kevin Stadler, Anthony Kim, Carlos Franco (Par), Jonathan Byrd, Padraig Harrington(Irl)
73Bill Lunde, Brian Gay, Nick O'Hern (Aus), James Driscoll, Blake Adams, Chez Reavie, Steve Marino, Brett Quigley, Jimmy Walker, Rickie Fowler, Lee Westwood (Eng), Chris Stroud, Joe Ogilvie, Jason Day (Aus), Mark Wilson, Dustin Johnson, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Mathew Goggin (Aus), Johnson Wagner, D.J. Trahan, Ryan Moore
74Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, J.P. Hayes, Woody Austin, Greg Owen (Eng), Roger Tambellini, Matthew Jones (Aus), Charles Howell III, Webb Simpson, Tim Petrovic, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Boo Weekley, Charles Warren, John Senden (Aus), Garrett Willis, Kevin Streelman, Jeff Maggert, George McNeill, Chad Collins, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Carl Pettersson (Swe), Josh Teater
75Spencer Levin, Aron Price (Aus), Matt Kuchar, Scott Piercy, Steve Wheatcroft, Derek Lamely, Michael Allen, Jim Furyk, Roland Thatcher, Cortland Lowe, Stuart Appleby (Aus), Rich Barcelo, Nicholas Thompson, Jason Bohn
76David Lutterus (Rsa), Brian Davis (Eng), Bryce Molder, Pat Perez, Martin Flores, Vance Veazey, Ted Purdy, Steve Lowery, Michael Connell, Fred Couples, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Craig Bowden, Jerod Turner, Troy Merritt
77Vijay Singh (Fij), Nathan Green (Aus), Chris Riley, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe)
78Adam Scott (Aus), Willis Ring, Matt Bettencourt, Jeff Klauk, Richard S Johnson (Swe), Cameron Beckman, Notah Begay III, Cameron Tringale
79J.B. Holmes
80Jason Dufner
81Omar Uresti, Kevin Johnson
87Jeff Peck
88Parker McLachlin
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)