Archive for March, 2009
March 15, 2009
Scores Saturday from the AT&T Classic, a $1,6 million Champions Tour event at 6,959-yard, par-72 Valencia Country Club.
Second Round
Joey Sindelar 64-70-134
Don Pooley 70-65-135
Jay Haas 67-69-136
Steve Thomas 71-66-137
Tim Simpson 69-69-138
Bruce Lietzke 68-70-138
Dan Forsman 72-67-139
Tom McKnight 71-68-139
Ken Green 71-68-139
Jeff Sluman 69-70-139
Robert L. Thompson 69-70-139
Mark Wiebe 70-70-140
Fulton Allem 69-71-140
Ben Crenshaw 68-72-140
Bernhard Langer 68-72-140
Tom Purtzer 65-75-140
Fred Funk 72-69-141
Phil Blackmar 70-71-141
Jerry Pate 70-71-141
Andy Bean 69-72-141
Tom Kite 72-70-142
Dave Stockton 72-70-142
Loren Roberts 72-70-142
Mike McCullough 71-71-142
Lonnie Nielsen 74-68-142
Scott Hoch 71-71-142
David Eger 70-72-142
Gene Jones 70-72-142
Bobby Wadkins 70-72-142
Wayne Levi 69-73-142
John Cook 68-74-142
David Edwards 67-75-142
John Morse 72-71-143
Morris Hatalsky 73-70-143
Mark O’Meara 73-70-143
Dana Quigley 74-69-143
Bob Gilder 70-73-143
Hale Irwin 69-74-143
Fuzzy Zoeller 69-74-143
Mike Goodes 70-74-144
Gary Hallberg 69-75-144
Tom Jenkins 73-72-145
Ian Woosnam 73-72-145
Graham Marsh 74-71-145
Bruce Fleisher 74-71-145
Eduardo Romero 70-75-145
Denis Watson 75-70-145
Mark McNulty 72-74-146
Allen Doyle 74-72-146
Keith Fergus 73-74-147
Vicente Fernandez 73-74-147
Jim Thorpe 71-76-147
Joe Ozaki 74-73-147
Wayne Grady 76-71-147
Bruce Summerhays 71-77-148
Michael Turner 71-77-148
D.A. Weibring 74-74-148
John Jacobs 76-72-148
Larry Nelson 78-70-148
Craig Stadler 81-67-148
Larry Mize 73-76-149
Tom Wargo 74-75-149
Hal Sutton 76-73-149
Dave Eichelberger 77-72-149
Massy Kuramoto 77-72-149
Mark W. Johnson 74-76-150
Sandy Lyle 75-75-150
Jeff Roth 77-73-150
Gary McCord 78-72-150
Jay Sigel 82-69-151
Bruce Vaughan 71-81-152
Isao Aoki 75-77-152
James Mason 79-73-152
Jim Colbert 81-72-153
Hubert Green 75-79-154
Rich Contreras 79-75-154
Blaine McCallister 77-79-156
Gary Player 80-78-158
Nick Price 38-38-WD
March 15, 2009
Michael Bradley shot a 4-under 68 in windy conditions Saturday for a share of the third-round lead with Australian Jason Day in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Bradley, whose last top-10 finish came at the 2000 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, 64 tournaments ago, matched Day (70) at 12-under 204 - four shots clear on the tropical, 7,526-yard Trump International course.
“Frankly, you’re aiming 30, 40, 50 feet left of really where you want the ball to go,” the 42-year-old Bradley said. “You’ve got to hit it on that line and just trust that the wind’s going to take it.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in this position, especially on a Sunday. So (there are) a lot of emotions that I have to handle, plus the conditions of the golf course, and the wind and whatnot.”
The 21-year-old Day hit into the water off the tee on the par-4 17th, but rallied to save par with a 12-foot putt.
“The 17th was a poor decision off the tee,” Day said. “I should have taken a 3-iron instead of a 3-wood, and I tried to be a little more aggressive, and instead I hit it right in the water.”
He has putted well on the windy coastal course between the Atlantic and mist-shrouded mountains.
“My putting saved me so much today,” Day said. “I hit a lot of chip shots to 10, 12 feet and holed them, so I was very happy with the speed. My putts were great, and the lines that I was reading was really good, too.
“I’ve just got to make sure tomorrow that I do the exact same as I’ve done the last three days. I don’t want to try and be too aggressive out there. I just want to play my game and take it one shot at a time, but I’ve certainly played well to be in the position I am today.”
Bradley praised the young Australian.
“If I can’t win, I would love to see him win this golf tournament,” Bradley said.
Jay Williamson (67), Brett Quigley (69), Greg Chalmers (70), Omar Uresti (70), Kent Jones (70), Cliff Kresge (72), Bart Bryant (73) and Bryce Molder (72).
Matt Jones, tied for the second-round lead with Day after matching the course record with a 64, shot a 79 to drop into a tie for 37th at 3 under. The Australian had two double bogeys, eight bogeys and three birdies.
The $3.5 million tournament is being held opposite the World Golf Championship at Doral, which has attracted the best players from around the world.
March 14, 2009
The CA Championship looks like any other big golf tournament held over the last nine months.
Phil Mickelson brings some star power. He built a two-shot lead Friday by chipping in for birdie for the third time and smoking a 3-wood from 245 yards around the palm trees and over the water, setting up another birdie.
The group chasing him includes two guys who already have won this year - Nick Watney (Buick Invitational), who shot 67 and was two shots behind; and Kenny Perry (FBR Open), who had a 64 and was another shot back.
And Tiger Woods was nowhere to be found.
Only this time, he’s actually playing in the tournament.
Mickelson finished strong for the second straight day and put himself in the last group at Doral for the first time in three years. His foil on the Blue Monster typically is Woods, but Lefty will be keeping different company this time.
Woods was 10 shots behind.
“It kind of (stinks),” Mickelson said. “I hope he comes out tomorrow and plays a great round and makes a move. I would love to get him back from ‘05. I came close in ‘05 and got beat, and I would love the opportunity to play head-to-head.”
Mickelson was at 13-under 131 and will have to settle for Watney, the only player at Doral who has yet to make a bogey.
Rory McIlroy, the 19-year-old from Northern Ireland who is trying to become the youngest PGA Tour winner in history, finished with an eagle and a birdie on two dangerous holes for a 66 and was two shots behind. He was tied with Perry, 48, who has three children older than McIlroy.
Woods beat Mickelson in an electric final round four years ago at Doral that came down to the last shot. They were paired again in the last group in the third round in 2006, and Woods got the best of him again.
This time, however, Woods looks like just another player in the field.
He again struggled with his distance control, the frustration growing with every shot too long or too short, leaving him few birdie chances. He made some progress, though - a 70, one shot better than the day before.
But he was at 3-under 141 and in a tie for 35th in the 80-man field at this World Golf Championship. Told that Mickelson was disappointed he could not face Woods, the world’s No. 1 player smiled.
“Me, too,” he said. “What am I? Ten back? That’s not a very good spot to be in. Hopefully, tomorrow I can shoot a good round and at least give myself somewhat of a chance going into Sunday.”
Woods returned from knee surgery two weeks ago in match play, but this is first stroke-play event since he won the U.S. Open last June, and it showed. It was the first time in his 19 starts at a WGC event that he has failed to break 70 the first two rounds.
And he has never been this low on the leaderboard at any time, let alone the weekend.
“I need to play well and I need to have help, and that’s the problem when you’re so far back,” Woods said. “You’re not really in control of your destiny being that far back.”
He didn’t have much control of his shots, either.
The worst of it came on the par-5 10th, when he was in the middle of the fairway with a 3-iron in his hand. Feeling it should have been a 4-iron, Woods blocked it into the bunker. He blasted out long and onto the fringe, caught the lip with his birdie putt, then missed his 3-foot putt for par. It was his first bogey on a par 5 at Doral since the 12th hole in the second round in 2005.
Mickelson also made bogey on a par 5 at No. 12 when he hooked his first tee shot out of play. But he escaped with a bogey, and that was the only big blunder of the round. He ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch starting on the 14th hole - the exception was a 4-foot birdie he missed at No. 16 - and seized control at the end of his round.
First, he chipped in for birdie from about 20 feet short of the seventh green. Then came his best swing of the day, carving a 3-wood around the palms, over the water and into a slight breeze from 245 yards into 15 feet on the par-5 eighth. He two-putted for birdie.
That gave him a cushion going into the weekend, but Mickelson has been around long enough to not let that excite him.
“There’s going to be low scores out there, and I’m going to have to keep pace,” he said. “But fortunately, I’m playing well enough, and believe I can do it.”
Watney last month won at Torrey Pines with two birdies on the final three holes, his second career victory. About the only thing he has in common with Mickelson is a swing coach - Butch Harmon - but he has played a half-dozen times with Mickelson.
“I definitely like the pairing,” Watney said. “He’s one of the best players of our generation, and I’m looking forward to what I can learn and see if I can hang with him for a couple of days.”
A dozen more players were within five shots of the lead, coming from all over the world.
Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand, who first struck a golf ball with a club he fashioned from a bamboo stick and bicycle tires, was atop the leaderboard until a triple bogey on the 18th hole. He shot 70 and was at 9-under 135 with Camilo Villegas and Rod Pampling.
“I think we all as players cannot wait for Tiger to get back on top of his game and hopefully be able to keep pace with him,” Mickelson said. “Not that we’ve been able to do it in the past, but we are hoping to have those opportunities to go head-to-head.”
For now, Mickelson will have to carry on without him.
March 14, 2009
Matt Jones shot a 30 on his back nine and finished with an 8-under 64 to match the course record, giving him a share of the 36-hole lead with fellow Australian Jason Day in the Puerto Rico Open on Friday.
Playing in swirling wind and occasional rain at Trump International Golf Club, Jones tied the course record set last year by Bo Van Pelt in the inaugural event.
“Actually, I find the course easier to play in the wind than with no wind because it changes the club you hit off the tee,” Jones said. “So the holes you’re into the wind you’re still going to be hitting drivers off them anyway, so I like the wind.”
The 21-year-old Day, a rookie on the U.S. PGA Tour last year who failed to live up to his hype and wound up losing his card, had a 68 to match Jones at 10-under 134. Day eagled the 600-yard, par-5 15th that plays into the coastal wind.
“It’s the first time I’ve been in this position going into the weekend, and I’m just going to soak it up and try to get some strength out of it,” Day said.
Bart Bryant, whose victories include the Memorial and U.S. Tour Championship, was a shot back after a 68.
“There’s not a Tiger Woods or a Phil Mickelson or somebody up there that you know they’re going to be up there at the end,” the 46-year-old Bryant said. “So I think there’s just a lot of unknowns - but somebody’s going to play really good and someone’s going to win.”
The four players at 8 under included Estanislao Goya, a 20-year-old Argentine who received a sponsor’s exemption. He shot a 67 and was in good position going into the weekend at his first U.S. PGA Tour event.
“Of course, if I can play good and win the tournament it will be great because I can get my U.S. PGA Tour card. But you know, I try to enjoy my rounds,” said Goya, the Tour de las Americas money champion last season.
The $3.5 million tournament is being held opposite the World Golf Championship at Doral, which has attracted the best players from around the world.
Some thought Day would join the elite in golf when he won a Nationwide Tour event at age 19. But he struggled last year as rookie, finishing 136th on the money list and failing to make it through Q-school.
Two dozen players were separated by four shots, a group that included Charles Howell III, 18-year-old Tadd Fujikawa and U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate, all at 6 under. Howell had a 69, Fujikawa shot a 68, and Mediate had a 70.
Fujikawa has made the cut in all three of his tour events this year.
Wind and rain were expected to continue through the weekend on the 7,526-yard tropical course.
“We had a little squall there. I mean it was coming down sideways there on three and four, which made four play really hard. But we all have to deal with it,” said Mediate, who lost a 19-hole playoff to Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open last year.
Among those missing the cut were Erik Compton, who had his second heart transplant last May. Compton made the cut last week in the Honda Classic, tying for 44th. He had rounds of 77-73.
March 14, 2009
Joey Sindelar shot an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over two-time winner Tom Purtzer in the AT&T Champions Classic on Friday.
The 50-year-old Sindelar, winless in 22 starts on the Champions Tour after winning seven times on the U.S. PGA Tour, hasn’t had a bogey in 38 holes. On Sunday in Newport Beach, he shot a 63 to tie for second behind Eduardo Romero in the Toshiba Classic.
“I’ve always enjoyed being a ball-striker. It’s what thrills me,” Sindelar said. “But that’s not what wins tournaments. It took me 25 years to learn that.”
Sindelar one-putted 11 greens and finished with 25 putts overall. With the 64, he matched the best score in the event since it moved to Valencia in 2001.
“I’ve been spending more time on my putting,” Sindelar said. “That work is showing. I’m not making everything, but it is definitely improving.”
After opening with six straight pars, Sindelar played the final 12 holes in 8 under - eagling the par-5 ninth and adding six birdies.
Jay Haas and David Edwards opened with 67s on the Valencia Country Club course, and Bernhard Langer, Bruce Lietzke, Ben Crenshaw and John Cook shot 68s. Edwards got into the event as the last alternate when R.W. Eaks withdrew.
Romero had a 70, and defending champion Denis Watson shot a 75.
Purtzer, the 2003 and 2007 winner, has his best score in 21 rounds on the course. He capped his bogey-free round with a birdie on 18.
“It doesn’t matter how I am playing, whenever I come here I have good feelings,” Purtzer said. “This course really fits my eye. Plus the weather and conditions are perfect.”
Purtzer has never finished below 14th in this event. He has changed back to the irons he won with in 2007.
“I went back to my old irons and that helped me a ton,” Purtzer said. “This golf course is always good for my confidence.”
March 13, 2009
Tiger Woods returned to stroke play for the first time since winning the US Open, and so much of it felt familiar except for the leaderboard at Doral.
His name was nowhere to be found Thursday at the CA Championship.
His wife, Elin, walked the back nine a month after giving birth to their son. It was her first time watching Woods play since Torrey Pines. Woods found himself more concerned with posting a score than beating one player, as was the case in match play two weeks ago.
The crowd was large, as usual for the Blue Monster, but shouts of “Welcome back!” were replaced by “Vamos, Tigre!”
But as players from all around the globe kept pouring in birdies - relative unknown players like Prayad Marksaeng and Jeev Milka Singh, followed by the familiar name of Phil Mickelson - Woods was stuck in the middle of the pack of an 80-man field.
Mickelson chipped in three times, twice while finishing with three straight birdies, on his way to a 7-under 65 that gave him a four-way share of the lead with Retief Goosen, Marksaeng and Singh.
Woods made only three birdies - two of them on par 5s - and had to settle for a 71 that put him in a tie for 40th.
“I need to be a touch sharper,” said Woods, who has never finished out of the top 10 at Doral.
Mickelson has rarely been this excited. He can’t recall hitting the ball this long or having a short game this superb. Along with taking only eight putts on the back nine, he pounded tee shot so far that he had wedge left for his second shot on the par-5 first hole.
“It was just nice to see the ball go in the hole,” Mickelson said.
Woods didn’t seen much of that, twisting his body and buckling his knees when one putt after another failed to drop. It was his highest opening-round score in seven starts on the Blue Monster.
“It was not like I was playing poorly and shot 71,” Woods said. “I played well and just didn’t make any putts.”
The problem for him was just about everyone else did.
Singh ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn and was the first player to post a 65 on a balmy, breezy afternoon. Goosen, switching back to a conventional putter, ran off eight birdies in his round of 65. And the real surprise was Marksaeng, of Thailand, who shot 30 on his back nine to join the leaders.
The group one shot behind included British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington, who didn’t feel as though he did much of anything right and had his best score of the year.
“I think I hit two fairways with my driver today. So it’s not like I played good golf or anything like that,” Harrington said. “It was all about the score.”
For Mickelson, it was mostly about his finish.
He hit into the water on No. 3 and took double bogey, found the water again on the par-3 fourth hole and chipped in for par. Mickelson was even through eight holes and was hopeful of a good back nine that would allow him a chance Friday to get into contention.
Three hours later, he already was there.
After trying to drive the 355-yard 16th hole, he pitched up to 3 feet for birdie. Then he chipped in from short of the green on the 17th, and made it three straight birdies by chipping in from about 25 feet on the 18th.
Woods didn’t have many close looks at birdie, picking up two of them on par 5s and the other one with a 7-iron that stopped a foot from the hole on the par-3 15th hole.
“Today I was trying to figure it out, how to get the ball in the hole a little bit faster than what I was doing,” Woods said.
Consider this a slow start. It’s one thing to be six shots behind after the opening round, quite another when 35 players separated him from the top of the leaderboard, a familiar position for Woods at Doral.
“You are going to have days like today,” Woods said. “And I would be obviously a little bit more disappointed, a little more frustrated, if I had not played well. I felt like I hit the ball well, hit putts well, but they just didn’t go in. I have to be a little bit sharper tomorrow. Hopefully, those putts go in tomorrow and the score will be a little different.”
Sean O’Hair began his round with consecutive eagles and was among the group at 67. Henrik Stenson played a shot from the mucky water on the third hole after taking off everything but his boxer shorts and his golf club. He shot a 69.
One of the biggest cheers Woods heard in his group came on the 16th hole when he took his driver out of the bag to go for the green. It was his first all-out swing - he recoiled after contact - and it didn’t seem to bother him, except for where the ball landed. It was right, in the rough, and Woods could get it no closer than 20 feet.
Mickelson is putting a DVD on the market on short-game instruction, and he put on an exhibition. Lefty is possibly the best player in golf inside 100 yards, and his chipping was deft as ever. Perhaps no chip-in was as significant as the fourth hole, especially coming off a double bogey on the previous hole and having to take another penalty stroke.
But it was the whole package that made Mickelson so excited. Even when he was even par through eight holes, he knew it was coming.
“I felt going into this tournament that I was playing as well as I ever have, as far as I can remember,” he said. “From 50 yards in, my short game has never been this good. And I’ve never driven the ball this long and this straight without the fear of a big miss. My iron play is better than it has been in quite some time. And I expect that to improve as the week goes on.
“I am excited about the next three rounds.”
March 13, 2009
Henrik Stenson took 69 shots in the opening round of the CA Championship.
He was dressed for 68 of them.
Seeking any way to avoid getting his clothes caked with mud after a wayward tee shot on the par-4 third hole, Stenson came up with only one alternative.
So off came his shoes, his socks, his shirt and his pants.
“Just the way God created me,” Stenson said.
Well, that isn’t entirely true, unless he was born wearing boxer shorts and a golf glove, along with having a wedge in his hands.
Stenson hacked the ball out of the muck, got dressed standing in the rough off the left side of the fairway, and wound up making perhaps the most entertaining bogey of his life. He ended the day four shots off the lead at Doral, but the only thing anyone wanted to talk with him about following the round was the Swede’s striptease.
“If you are saving a shot, that has to be worth taking your shirt and trousers,” Stenson said. “I’m sure I’ll hear a few comments and once the pictures get out, I’ll hear a few more, no doubt. I’ll probably take that to my grave with me. I don’t think I scared too many spectators off the course, hopefully.”
Probably not, but the story spread quickly.
By the time Stenson - who wasn’t carrying any rain gear, which would have provided a clothing alternative - reached the fifth tee, he heard fans chatting about what he’d done a few minutes earlier.
“Yeah, I don’t know if I would do that,” Phil Mickelson said.
Stenson said he had sound rationale for the decision.
Earlier this year in Dubai, Stenson waded into some mud to play a shot and wound up covering his shirt and pants with dirt. Not wanting to finish another round looking out of sorts, Stenson swallowed his pride and disrobed.
“For the love of the game,” Stenson said, “and for the fans.”
—
EAGLE-EAGLE: Coming into the CA Championship, Sean O’Hair had one eagle in his past 256 holes.
He started on Thursday with two in his first two holes.
O’Hair reached the par-5 opening hole in two and rolled in a 6-foot putt for the first eagle, then chipped in from 42 yards out on the par-4 2nd hole. It set the tone for a 5-under 67, which left him two shots out of the lead after Thursday’s opening round.
“It was a nice way to start, and that was about it,” O’Hair said. “There were a lot of tough holes. I had 16 holes to play and if you start thinking about what can be, that’s when you’re going to make bogeys and make mistakes. So I just stayed in the moment.”
He made three birdies and two bogeys the rest of the way.
An eagle-eagle start is rare, but not unprecedented: Chris Tidland was the last player on the U.S. PGA Tour to open with two eagles, which he did at the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic.
Tidland missed the cut at Tesoro Club that week.
And for as impressive as eagle-eagle is, it’s actually been topped before.
At the 2004 Women’s British Open, Karen Stupples opened the final round with an eagle, then followed that with a double-eagle on her way to victory.
—
SCOTT’S DRIVER: Adam Scott played the final 10 holes without a driver.
Scott was playing with a new Titleist 909 driver on Thursday, and after using it at the par-5 eighth hole, he called for a rules official after hearing a rattle.
If the official declared the club unplayable, Scott could have replaced it without penalty.
But the ruling was that the club could still be played, so Scott simply took it out of play himself and went the rest of the way with 13 clubs in his bag. He could have hit driver on seven of his remaining 10 holes.
Titleist spokesman Joe Gomes said the rattle was likely caused by a piece of loose epoxy that became separated from the head following the manufacturing process.
A Titleist technician who had just arrived in Tampa in advance of next week’s Transitions Championship built Scott two new replacement drivers on Thursday, and was driving them to Miami so Scott could have them before Friday’s second round.
Scott shot 71, finishing six shots off the lead.
—
MCILROY’S DAY: Rory McIlroy has won at Doral before, albeit not on the Blue Monster course.
And he was 9.
McIlroy won the Doral Junior Publix tournament in 1998, shooting even par over 36 holes and winning by five shots. The 19-year-old from Ireland shot 68 on Thursday, settling in three shots off the pace after one round of the CA Championship.
“It was great to come back here,” McIlroy said. “I have great memories of the place.”
McIlroy said he played the Blue Monster as a 12-year-old, needing driver and two whacks with a 3-wood to reach the 12th green. He got there with driver and just one 3-wood on Thursday.
—
HERE AND THERE: Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy never got rolling, shooting 73 to finish eight shots off the lead. Ogilvy led after each round at Doral last year. … Luke Donald (69) said his surgically repaired wrist, which kept him out of last week’s Honda Classic, was fine. Donald said the problem last week was related to scar tissue and didn’t represent any major trouble.
March 13, 2009
Monday qualifier Derek Lamely and 20-year-old Australian Jason Day shot 6-under 66s in windy, sometimes rainy conditions to share the first-round lead in the Puerto Rico Open on Thursday.
Lamely was trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win a U.S. PGA Tour event since Fred Wadsworth in the 1986 Southern Open.
“This is what I’ve been trying to do for forever,” said 28-year-old Lamely, playing in his fourth U.S. PGA Tour event since turning pro six years ago. “It is a long week. Having to go Monday qualifying makes it a longer week - but it’s great.”
Day, making the 39th start of his career, has held the first-round lead one other time, in the 2008 Canadian Open.
Michael Bradley, Cliff Kresge, Bart Bryant, Kevin Stadler and Bryce Molder opened with 67s on the Trump International Golf Club course, framed between mountainous rain forest and the white-capped Atlantic.
Bradley, whose last top-10 finish was in the 2000 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, a span of 64 tournaments, had a simple explanation for his strong play.
“If you’re driving it well and you’re keeping it in the fairway, as long as you can control the flight of the golf ball, makes it a little easier,” Bradley said. “Kept it out of the wind when need be, and I’m definitely happy with a 67.”
Kresge finished with a birdie on the par-5 18th, hitting a wedge shot to 3 feet.
“It was breezy right from the get go,” Kresge said. “We woke up this morning and it was blowing as soon as we got up. So I knew it was going to be a challenging day with the winds.”
U.S. Open playoff loser Rocco Mediate was two strokes back at 68 along with Troy Matteson, Brett Quigley, Alex Cejka, Greg Chalmers and Jonathan Byrd. Hawaiian teen Tadd Fujikawa shot a 70, and defending champion Greg Kraft had a 71. Last year, Kraft opened with a 69 on the way to his first win in 16 years.
Puerto Rican fans had four locals to cheer on, including amateur Rafael Campos, who shot a 78.
March 13, 2009
DORAL, Fla -Tiger Woods returned to stroke play for the first time since winning the US Open, and so much of it felt familiar except for the leaderboard.
His name was nowhere to be found Thursday at the CA Championship.
His wife, Elin, walked the back nine a month after giving birth to their son. It was her first time watching Woods play since Torrey Pines. Woods found himself more concerned with posting a score than beating one player, as was the case in match play two weeks ago.
The crowd was large, as usual for the Blue Monster, but shouts of “Welcome back!” were replaced by “Vamos, Tigre!”
But as players from all around the globe kept pouring in birdies - relative unknown players like Prayad Marksaeng and Jeev Milka Singh, followed by the familiar name of Phil Mickelson - Woods was stuck in the middle of the pack of an 80-man field.
Mickelson chipped in three times, twice while finishing with three straight birdies, on his way to a 7-under 65 that gave him a four-way share of the lead with Retief Goosen, Marksaeng and Singh. The group one shot behind included British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington.
Woods made only three birdies - two of them on par 5s - and had to settle for a 71 that put him in a tie for 40th.
Puerto Rico Open
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico - Monday qualifier Derek Lamely and 20-year-old Australian Jason Day shot 6-under 66s in windy, sometimes rainy conditions to share the first-round lead in the Puerto Rico Open.
The 28-year-old Lamely, from Fort Myers, Fla., is trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win a PGA Tour event since Fred Wadsworth in the 1986 Southern Open.
Michael Bradley, Cliff Kresge, Bart Bryant, Kevin Stadler and Bryce Molder opened with 67s on the Trump International Golf Club course, framed between mountainous rain forest and the white-capped Atlantic.
U.S. Open playoff loser Rocco Mediate was two strokes back at 68 along with Troy Matteson, Brett Quigley, Alex Cejka, Greg Chalmers and Jonathan Byrd.
New Zealand Open
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand - Americans Josh Teater, Todd Demsey and Alex Prugh shot 7-under 65s to share the first-round lead in the New Zealand Open.
Teater had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch at The Hills to reach 9 under in the event sanctioned by the Australasian and Nationwide tours, but dropped two strokes on the par-4 18th after hitting into two bunkers.
American Martin Piller, Australia’s Stephen Dartnall and South Korea’s Han Seung-su opened with 67s, and New Zealand’s Steve Alker, the New Zealand PGA winner, topped a large group at 68 that included Americans Jim Herman, Jim McGovern, Chad Collins, Vance Veazey and Justin Hicks and Australian veteran Peter Senior.
March 10, 2009
Torrey Pines Golf Course will host an LPGA Tour event for the first time in 27 years under an agreement to hold the Samsung World Championship on the South Course in September.
The Samsung World Championship, to be held Sept. 17-20, features a 20-player field that includes the four major champions and top players from the money list. Paula Creamer won last year at Half Moon Bay in San Francisco.
It will be the second pro tournament this year at Torrey Pines, which has hosted the Buick Invitational since 1968. The public golf course along the Pacific bluffs gained more notoriety last year when Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open in a playoff.
The course will be nearly 1,000 yards shorter for the Samsung World Championship, which will be just over 6,700 yards.
The LPGA Tour last went to Torrey Pines for the 1983 Inamori Classic.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the South Course became available for the LPGA Tour when two corporations canceled outings during the week the LPGA wanted its tournament. Another corporate outing to be held Monday of tournament week will limit practice by the 20 players in the field.
Jon Maddern, deputy director of golf operations for the city of San Diego, said the tournament organizer IMG has agreed to reimburse the city for lost green fees on the South Course and for staff overtime during the tournament, which he estimated at $200,000.
