Woods struggles on comeback
Tiger Woods endured another poor day as he shot a two-over-par 73 in the opening round of the Frys.com Open at the CordeValle golf club, San Martin, California.
While Woods is now in danger of missing the cut, there was a four-way tie for the lead with Brandon Steele, Briny Baird, Garrett Willis and Matt Bettencourt all shooting a four-under-par 67. However, as ever the attention has turned to Woods who had tumbled out of the world's top 50 for the first time in 15 years coming in to the tournament.
Woods, with a new caddie in Joe LaCava and a rebuilt swing for his first tournament in seven weeks, said: "That's probably one of the worst putting rounds I've ever had. I can't putt the ball any worse than I did today."
Woods missed three putts inside six feet, two of them for birdie.
Even toward the end of his round, he froze when he saw a four-foot par putt on the 16th hole take a 360-degree ride around the edge of the cup before falling.
"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. And I'm very pleased at the shots I was hitting most of the day.
"But I got nothing out of the round on the greens. And whatever momentum I could have gotten by hitting good shots ... you know, I just missed putts. I need to put together a good round tomorrow and gradually piece my way back into the tournament."
By contrast, the leaders did not have many problems, although the cold weather and occasional rain put low scores at a premium.
Steele birdied his last two holes for a 31 on the back nine while Baird gave himself hope by playing without a bogey. Paul Casey was the leading European in a 12-way tie for 25th following a one-under-par 70.
