ESPN Golf

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The de facto start to the PGA Tour season arrived with a chill in the air Thursday, and we're not just talking about the cold front that is gripping Southern California.

Tiger Woods made his 2008 debut at Torrey Pines, predictably shooting up the leaderboard at a place where he has won the Buick Invitational five times, including three in a row.

And there alongside him in third place, 2 shots behind tournament leader Troy Matteson, is Tiger's 2007 punching bag, Rory Sabbatini. Safe to say, they didn't exchange New Year's greetings when they passed each other in the Buick media center.

In fact, they didn't even acknowledge each other.

Their relationship is as frosty as the temperature, which caused a run on scarves, mittens and sweaters. It didn't keep Woods from picking up where he left off 130 days ago, when he put the finishing touches on an outstanding 2007 season by winning the Tour Championship and the inaugural FedEx Cup.

Woods shot 5-under 67 on the tougher South Course, while Sabbatini posted the same score on the North. They will switch venues on Friday.

Although he complained about an uncooperative driver, Woods' score seemed to be a continuation of last year, when he won seven times -- including a major championship and two World Golf Championship events. His 2007 season was also marked by some verbal skirmishes with Sabbatini.

It started when the South African played with Woods during the final round of the Wachovia Championship, shot 74 and then said that he thought Tiger was "more beatable than ever." Never mind that Woods won the tournament. And although there was some truth to Sabbatini's declaration -- Woods, at the time, was struggling with his swing -- it came off wrong.

Sabbatini said he liked the "New Tiger," to which the No. 1 player in the world remarked that Sabbatini had won as many tournaments in his career (three at the time) as Woods had won at that point in the season.

So Sabbatini spent much of the summer hearing about his comments, and when he didn't back down at the Bridgestone Invitational where they were again paired in the final round, the dispute took on more life as Woods beat him by 8 shots.

And it only escalated last month at the Target World Challenge, an offseason event for just 16 players that Woods established to benefit his foundation. Simply put, the tournament is easy money. Sabbatini was invited based on his world ranking, put up in a swank hotel and guaranteed a minimum of $170,000. (Woods won the tournament and gave his $1.35 million check to his foundation.)

But after playing poorly in the second and third rounds, Sabbatini withdrew. He cleaned out his locker on Saturday afternoon, but didn't tell tournament officials until Sunday morning. His courtesy car was found at the airport. Sabbatini gave "personal reasons" as his excuse, but most figured that his struggles on the course led to the departure, poor form for an event that had just 16 players and for which he got paid anyway.

Players such as Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia were not kind, with Couples saying, "It's just not right," and Calcavecchia adding, "Rory is Rory." Woods was none too pleased, either. "I'd like to try and get to the bottom of it when we're done here," Woods said on Dec. 16. "And we'll see what happens."

Apparently, Woods never got to the bottom of it.

"I haven't talked to him about any of it," Woods said Thursday, just minutes after walking past Sabbatini without saying a word or making eye contact. "It is what it is."

Couples was among those who suggested that Sabbatini donate his $170,000 to the Tiger Woods Foundation, but on Wednesday Sabbatini visited a nearby naval base, where he gave the money to the United Through Reading Foundation. The organization provides a video program for military personnel to keep in touch with their families.

"It's unfortunately one of those things that we seem to forget about and we take for granted out here on the tour," Sabbatini said. "And we were just fortunate that we were able to contribute to it."

When asked if he donated the winnings from Woods' event, Sabbatini said: "That is what the situation was. Unfortunately, the media took a lot of criticism towards me after the event, and in that situation I was there, I was tired, and we thought about it and we thought we'd put it to some good use."

Woods seemed pleased to learn that the money was going to a military charity, but there was not going to be a lot more discussion about Sabbatini. Both players seemed cool to the idea of talking about one another.

But things will certainly heat up if they somehow get paired together this weekend.

Bob Harig is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.