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Thursday, November 26
Langer, Lickliter share early lead
Associated Press
HOUSTON -- Tiger Woods was five strokes out of the lead after the first round of the Tour Championship and couldn't have been more pleased.
He was still standing -- barely.
|  | | Bernhard Langer got out of the gate quickly with five birdies on the front nine. |
He could still swing the club, but not very hard, and not without pain.
While Bernhard Langer and Frank Lickliter each posted a 6-under 65 on Thursday, Woods' return to Champions Golf Club was marred by
a lower back injury that kept him from performing even simple tasks such as bending over to stick a tee in the ground.
"I've never had this problem," said the world's No. 1 player.
He still managed a 1-under 70 and was in contention in the season-ending tournament for the top 30 players on the PGA Tour money list.
"I was very thankful and lucky to end up under par, and I've got a good shot winning this tournament if I can just somehow keep hitting the ball solidly and make a few putts."
The bigger question is whether he plays Friday.
Woods said he would have Tom Boers, the back specialist for players such as Fred Couples, Davis Love III and Ernie Els, work on his lower right back Thursday night.
"I just hope I feel better," he said.
Woods had some company. Three of the top four players who made it to Champions struggled with bad backs -- Love, PGA champion David Toms and Woods, the biggest surprise on the injury list.
Woods wasn't specific about how he injured his back, only that it occurred Wednesday afternoon as he was getting worked on in the
fitness trailer.
Even Lickliter was feeling out of whack. He's making significant changes to his swing -- although he won't say what they are -- and never felt good about his game.
"I felt very uncomfortable on the range, very uncomfortable on basically every shot I hit," Lickliter said.
He didn't bother to look at a leaderboard, and was pleasantly surprised to see his name at the top along with Langer.
"Golf is weird," Lickliter said.
So was the opening round.
Hal Sutton was leading at 5-under until he and Billy Mayfair got put on the clock -- never mind that only 29 players are in the field and they were an entire hole ahead of the next group. He dropped four shots on the next five holes for a 70.
David Duval, who won the Tour Championships on this course in 1997, had a 90-foot birdie putt that rolled all the way off the green. Maybe he learned that trick from Annika Sorenstam in the Battle at Bighorn.
And with top players battling back problem, the irony was that Langer, the 44-year-old German player who hasn't played this lucrative event since 1987, would be tied for the lead.
Then again, the two-time Masters champion has played primarily in Europe until deciding to play a full schedule in the United States this year.
"You are going to see more of me the next few years," said Langer, a two-time winner this year in Europe.
Langer started and finished with a flourish. He birdied four of his first six holes, then completed his round with a 6-iron into 15 feet on No. 16 for birdie, and his seventh birdie of the round with another 6-iron to 12 feet on the 17th.
Scott Verplank, who won the Canadian Open, and Steve Lowery were at 67, while Brad Faxon and Mike Weir were another stroke back.
Els, trying to keep alive his streak of at least won victory every year since 1994, lipped out a 3-foot par putt on the final hole for a 69, tied with Duval. Toms had a 73.
Woods won at Champions two years ago, but his memories are mixed. In the first round, he tried to hit a softball-sized rock that was directly behind his ball and suffered a stinger in his left wrist.
That didn't stop him from beating Love by four strokes at the end of the week, and he wasn't about to give up on the tournament quite yet.
"I'm as stubborn as they come," Woods said.
He's not the only one. Love has been battling neck and back problems most of the year. This is his fourth tournament in a row after a long layoff, but it's hard to stay home when the birdies keep falling.
He finished second at Disney and was in the final group again last week in the Buick Challenge before his back acted up and he fell out of contention.
"I'm not going to play unless I can compete," Love said. "I'm not going to play just to see if I can survive."
That's what the rest of the week could hold for the PGA Tour's top performers -- with Woods at the top of the list.
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Tiger's back