Woods returns to similar frustration

Updated: June 16, 2006, 8:11 AM ET

Email Print Share

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
Archive

MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Let's give Tiger Woods the benefit of the doubt. Let's stipulate that he felt no rust in his return to competitive golf. Let's say that he picked up in the opening round of the U.S. Open right where he left off when he tied for third at the Masters.

He looked like Tiger, the lime green swooshed shirt stretched tight across those linebacker shoulders. He sounded like Tiger, the ball coming off his clubface at Winged Foot Golf Club with that metallic gunshot that only he can produce.

But that, unfortunately, is where the resemblance ended. Who was this guy who hit only three fairways? Who was the golfer who left an eight-foot downhill par putt two feet short? Who was this impostor that landed his second shot at the ninth hole in the grandstand? Who was the charlatan who turned in a 6-over-par 76?

It was, in fact, the No. 1 golfer in the world. Woods may not have been rusty, but the guess here is that caddie Stevie Williams leadfooted it to Home Depot after the round for a case of WD-40.

Woods matched the highest opening round of his 11 previous Opens (1996), and only a twisting four-foot downhill par-saver at No. 18 kept him from tying his highest Open round ever (also in 1996).

Asked if he felt any emotions in his return to competitive golf after the death of his father, Woods said, "Yeah, frustration. I was 3-over after three. I wasn't very happy."

The greens may have been the only place where he showed no rust. Woods putted as miserably on the West Course at Winged Foot as he did in the final round of the Masters. Woods promised to snap his putter in eight pieces after his 33-putt round of 70 on Sunday at Augusta National included three three-putts. On Tuesday, Woods recalled how he never got the speed of the greens down.

Sure enough, Woods picked up where he left off, needing 33 putts again, including seven on the first three holes, each of which he bogeyed.

"The greens were just slow today," Woods said. "I just had a hard time adjusting early. I needed to make a full shoulder turn on the greens. Once I did that, I was all right."

That concluded the comedic portion of the press conference. Woods is right. A rainy spring has left the Winged Foot greens softer and slower than most U.S. Open greens. But even after three days of practice, Woods sounded as if he expected to wake up Thursday and find that he would be putting on the concrete of Shinnecock Hills. It wasn't going to happen, especially with the overnight rains. Evidently, Woods had to see it to believe it.

"You're in the mindset of a U.S. Open, and usually U.S. Open greens are really quick," he said. "I got off to a bad start. With the wind blowing, it was going to be hard to make up shots."

On a day when Colin Montgomerie's red -1 ended up being a razor nick of red on a scoreboard stubbled in black, no one would be playing catchup, least of all Woods. It may not have been rust, but several of the shots that Woods missed, he barely missed. He made a double bogey at the 640-yard 12th when, with the pin tucked against the right edge of the green, Woods dumped an 8-iron into a steep right bunker. He didn't miss by much, but he missed in, as he described, "the only place you can't put it."

Woods had to blast out to the back of the green. His ball bounded over the green into thick grass, and he failed to get up and down from there. When Woods rebounded by holing a 15-foot birdie putt at the 15th hole, the boisterous yells got only a listless wave in return.

The good news is, as poorly as Woods played, he is tied for 68th. He made round-saving putts at the ninth, where he poured in a six-footer for bogey, and at the 18th, where he slid in a four-foot downhill twister for par. Only a fool would doubt his ability to leap into contention. It seems safe to say to assume that he will get sharper as the week progresses.

"If I shoot under par the next couple of days, I'll be right there," Woods said. "Last year [at Pinehurst No. 2], we had an easier Open course than this year, and nobody was under par by the end of the week."

The bad news is you have to go back to 1955 to find an Open champion (Jack Fleck) who began with a 76. Informed of the historical odds against him, Woods retorted, "It's been done before, hasn't it?"

That is the real, rust-free Woods. If he is to play as indomitably as he thinks, Woods' tee time of 7:55 a.m. can't come soon enough.

Ivan Maisel is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Ivan.Maisel@espn3.com.