Tiger prowls Buick
SAN DIEGO — The score would suggest nothing has changed since Tiger Woods last played the PGA Tour four months ago.
On the South Course at Torrey Pines, which stretches 7,569 yards and played every bit of that length in the chilly, coastal air along the Pacific Ocean, the world's No. 1 player picked off enough birdies to put his name near the top of the leaderboard and finished with a 5-under 67 on the tougher of the two courses at the Buick Invitational.
Noting that the U.S. Open will be held at Torrey Pines in June, one caddie watched Woods complete his round and remarked, "He might have just won two tournaments with one round."
But he wasn't even in the lead. That belonged to Troy Matteson, who was two shots better than Woods on the South Course with a 65.
"I won't top that for a while," Matteson said.
Separating them was Brad Adamonis, who shot a 66 on the North, which is where low scores usually are shot. The North is 600 yards shorter with minimal rough, and it played 2Z\x strokes easier Thursday in the first round.
What surprised Woods is how he arrived at this 67.
His opening tee shot of his 2008 season sailed into a bunker. Another shot left him stymied behind a tree. Yet another was so far left that it cleared the cart path, and Woods had to hook his second shot so severely on the par-5 sixth that he started it out toward the right rough and ended up in the left rough.
All those led to par.
The times he managed to find the fairway, such as No. 4, led to birdie. Two more came on par 3s, and he only played the four par 5s in a 1 under par. But there he was, two shots out of the lead, already getting everyone's attention.
"It wasn't pretty off the tee, but I hung in there," Woods said.
