AKRON, Ohio — Not even one of his favorite golf courses is of much use to Tiger Woods these days.
Facing the two easiest holes to start his round, he hit tee shots into the trees and made bogeys. On the course where he has won seven times in his last nine appearances, he posted a 4-over-par 74 for his highest score ever at Firestone. That put him 10 shots behind Bubba Watson, the largest first-round deficit Woods has faced since he returned at the Masters.
“Just because I like the golf course doesn’t mean I’m going to play well on it,” said Woods, who hit only five fairways and took 32 putts. “You still have to execute, and I didn’t do that. I did not execute the shots that I wanted to execute, didn’t shape the ball the way I wanted to shape it, and certainly did not putt well.”
And it didn’t get any better when he finished Thursday in the Bridgestone Invitational.
As he took the 100-yard walk to the scoring trailer, one spectator called out to Woods: “You’re washed up, Tiger. Give it up.”
Woods, sporting a goatee but rarely a smile, offered no excuses.
“Only thing I did good today is I kept my patience out there,” he said.
Watson made his debut at Firestone by running off four straight birdies on the back nine and making a long putt on the final hole for a 6-under 64 and a two-shot lead over a group that included Masters champion Phil Mickelson and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell.
“It’s tough to make shots around this golf course,” Watson said. “I knew it was going to be tough, but today I just putted really well, hit good iron shots and made it look a little bit easy. But we’re not done yet.”
McDowell finished with four straight birdies. Mickelson was trying to keep his momentum with a par toward the end of his round when he hit a flop shot that dropped in for birdie on the sixth, and then he added two birdies on his last three holes.
Adam Scott, who played bogey-free, and Kenny Perry also were at 66. The group at 67 included Jeff Overton, who finished second last week at the Greenbrier.
Mickelson could replace Woods at No. 1 in the world rankings by finishing as low as fourth — Woods would have to finish out of the top 44.
Sabbatini, Uresti share lead
VERONA, N.Y. — Rory Sabbatini and Omar Uresti shot 7-under 65s and were tied for the lead in the rain-delayed first round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship.
Sabbatini and Uresti both had seven birdies without a bogey and were one stroke in front of Brad Faxon, Brian Davis, Steve Elkington and Alex Cejka.
Because of a weather delay of nearly three hours, 24 players did not complete the first round.
The Associated Press
