SAN MARTIN, Calif. — Anyone expecting a new and improved version of Tiger Woods saw much of the same old thing Thursday.
An early birdie to raise hopes. A sudden tumble. And he couldn’t make a putt.
In his first tournament in seven weeks, Woods went 13 holes between his only two birdies at the Open and had a 2-over-par 73 that put him in danger of missing consecutive cuts for the first time in his career.
“That’s probably one of the worst putting rounds I’ve ever had,” Woods said. “I can’t putt the ball any worse than I did today.”
Texas Open winner Brendan Steele opened with a 4-under 67 on a cool day at CordeValle with a few bursts of showers. He was joined atop the leaderboard by Briny Baird, Garrett Willis and Matt Bettencourt.
Woods fell out of the top 50 in the world ranking this week for the first time in 15 years, and it showed. The best golf in his group came from UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay, the No. 1 amateur in the world, who opened with a 2-under 69.
Woods was tied for 86th, although he was still only one shot out of the top 70 and ties that advance to the weekend. He missed three putts inside 6 feet, two of them for birdie.
“The rest of the game was not too bad,” Woods said. “I hit some bad shots, yes. But also, I hit some really good ones.”
Footnotes.
Ross McGowan shot an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Madrid Masters in Spain.
• Defending champion Y.E. Yang shot a four-under 67 to claim a share of the lead with Rickie Fowler after the first round of the Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea.
The Associated Press
