Woods overcomes slow start
SAN DIEGO (AP) - June 12, 2008 No, it wasn't his left knee, though that was still tender from
surgery.
It was the three-putt to end his round at Torrey Pines, leaving
him four shots behind a pair of surprising leaders and one behind
Phil Mickelson.
Nothing torments Woods more than that.
He expected soreness in his knee. He didn't expect his first
double bogey in 416 holes.
What no one saw coming - certainly not the gallery that stood a
dozen deep to watch the All-Star pairing of Woods and Mickelson -
was Kevin Streelman and Justin Hicks tied for the lead at 3-under
68.
"To make two double bogeys and a three-putt and only be four
back, that's a great position to be in," Woods said after his
1-over 72, "because I know I can clean that up tomorrow."
The leaders have some history at Torrey Pines that takes some
explaining.
Streelman was an unknown rookie when he got into the Buick
Invitational in January as the third alternate and wound up in the
final group with Woods in the third round. His world ranking was
No. 1,354, and he closed with rounds of 75-77 to slip back into
oblivion until he emerged anew at Torrey Pines this week.
"I do enjoy this golf course," Streelman said.
Hicks played at the Buick Invitational, too - but it wasn't the
same guy whose name was atop the leaderboard of the U.S. Open.
Turns out there's another Justin Hicks, a club pro in San Diego,
who qualified for the PGA Tour event. He showed up in the gallery
to watch Justin Hicks, the Nationwide Tour player, fire off six
birdies on his opening nine and hold it together.
"A lot of weird stuff going on out there today," Hicks said.
That includes the star pairing of Woods and Mickelson that
brought enormous crowds outside the ropes and more than 100 media
inside the ropes. Woods made his first double bogey since
September, worked his way onto the leaderboard and then made
another.
Mickelson, the guy who carried two drivers in his bag at the
Masters when he won his first major, didn't have any in his bag for
the U.S. Open. He still managed to reach both par 5s on the back in
two, both times settling for birdie on his way to a 71.
"I felt like with the fairways being firm like they were today,
all I needed was a 3-wood," Mickelson said.
Stranger still was the eclectic mix of players who managed to
break par.
Hicks is No. 722 in the world ranking, tied with Streelman, who
is No. 608. Right behind was Eric Axley (No. 503), who has
bittersweet memories of this place. His caddie, Steve DuPlantis,
was killed by a car while crossing the street at the Buick
Invitational. He shot 69 and was tied with Stuart Appleby, Rocco
Mediate and former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els was among 11 players who
managed to break par at Torrey Pines, the public golf course along
the bluffs of the Pacific that held its own. A year ago at Oakmont,
only two players broke par in the opening round.
Even so, the focus was on Woods and Mickelson, playing together
in a U.S. Open for the first time since 1999.
Rarely has there been so much speculation over Woods, who had
surgery to clean out cartilage around his knee April 15, two days
after the Masters. He had not played a competitive round since
then, much less walked 18 holes.
But it didn't take him long to get back into the rhythm of major
championship golf.
"Getting into the flow of the round, it helps when you hit six
shots on the first hole," he said.
Woods hooked his opening tee shot into rough so deep he could
only gouge a sand wedge back into the fairway. The eye-opener came
on the flip wedge to the back pin, the ball landing just beyond the
flag and hopping six feet high, not landing until it was in more
cabbage behind the green. He chipped 6 feet by and missed the putt.
It was his first double bogey since the opening round of the BMW
Championship last September.
"I figured you're going to make bogeys out here," Woods said.
"I just happened to make two on the very first hole."
The plan was to get back to par, which is where everyone wants
to be at a U.S. Open, and Woods got there with a 5-iron from a
fairway bunker to two feet on the tough fourth hole along the
bluffs, a tee shot that slowly rolled down the ridge to five feet
on the par-3 eighth, and two powerful swings on the 612-yard ninth
to the collar of a bunker, from where he chipped to three feet for
birdie.
As for the knee?
There was no question it was hurting, especially when he took a
huge cut from the rough on No. 12 and went after his tee shot on
the 18th hole, a drive so long and straight that he had only 7-iron
for his second shot.
"It's a little sore" was about all Woods offered after his
round, adding that he felt similar pain during his practice rounds.
But he was back to playing golf, continuing his pursuit of the
18 professional majors won by Jack Nicklaus, and what really made
him sore was dropping shots with careless mistakes.
Woods saved par with a 15-foot putt on the 12th to stay 1 under
and was poised to go lower when he found the fairway on the 13th
hole, which played only 539 yards with the Pacific breeze at his
back. But his 6-iron didn't carry like he imagined, coming up short
of the elevated green and rolling back some 100 yards down the
hill. He bladed a wedge over the green and had to make a 12-footer
to save par.
Then came his second double bogey, going from a fairway bunker
to short of the green, a stubby chip that didn't clear the collar
of rough, and a chip seven feet past the hole.
"Those two 6s, I didn't take care of both par 5s on the back
nine," Woods said. "As I said, plenty of holes to go. We're all
going to make mistakes out here."
Mickelson made his share, starting with a three-putt bogey on
No. 5 for the first of three straight bogeys.
He was four behind Woods through 12 holes, tied with him two
holes later after a two-putt birdie on the 13th and a beautiful
approach to three feet on the 14th. Each birdied revved up the
gallery even more, the cheers evenly divided for Woods, a six-time
winner of the Buick Invitational, and Mickelson, who grew up in San
Diego.
"It was pretty interesting to tee off at 8 o'clock and have
this many people out here," Mickelson said.
They saw just about everything but the guys leading the
tournament.