Woods gets C-plus at best in his return – Bridgestone Invitational
AKRON, Ohio – Tiger Woods shot a 2-under-par 68 at long, tough Firestone Country Club Thursday in his return to competitive golf after an 11-week sick leave for his aching left leg. Hold the cymbals and the drum roll.A 68 was nice, but nothing for the faithful to get excited about. For one thing, the low score was Adam Scott’s 62, and there were a bunch of others in the 60s and lower than Woods, and this on a Firestone rendered vulnerable by recent rains. So the raw figure doesn’t tell the story.
Here’s a closer look: Woods hit only five of 14 driving fairways. That’s .357 average – great in baseball, abyssmal in golf. He hit 12 of the 18 greens – not too bad. But what really dressed up his day was needing only 27 putts, three of them of about 17 feet. He had nine one-putt greens in making three birdies and one bogey. Overall, he was much encouraged.
“The amount of progress I made in my golf swing,” Woods said in his summing-up. “The amount of compression I had in the golf ball, the shots I was hitting. I was hitting proper shots out there. This was fun, to be able to hit the ball with that much flush feeling through the golf ball, and the speed I had. It feels great. Feels great.”
VIEW OF FUTURE: Meanwhile, the fans got another glimpse of the future – actually, it was the present in Japan. Japanese kid Ryo Ishikawa was in nothing but a mess at Firestone’s 18th. Talk about your off-line shots. Ishikawa’s second was wide of the green by some 50 yards to the left, and his ball sat only 18 inches away from a nice, homey white picket fence. His only salvation was that he was swinging nearly parallel to the fence, though the angle closing on his shot and he had to get the ball up fast. He took a little swing, popped the ball over the fence, across the cart path, and on to the green, where it rolled to stop about 15 feet beyond the pin. He had to high-five his way through the fans, on his way to the green. There, loath to waste such an accomplishment, he holed the putt for a three-under 67.
FOR THE RECORD: Tiger Woods’ record at Firestone is practically a monopoly in golf. His seven wins came in 1999, 2000, ‘01, ‘05, ’06, ’07, ’09. Until his complete fizzle to a tie for 78 last year, his worst finish was fourth place.
WHY “WORLD?” – Seven different countries are represented in the top 10 on the leaderboard in this World Golf Championship.
THE EAGLE HELPS: British Open winner Darren Clarke eagled the par-4 8th, holing a 7-iron from 184 yards. He needed it to escape finishing last alone. He tied with England’s Simon Dyson at 77.
NO BOGEY-MEN: Four players shot bogey-free rounds: Adam Scott (62), Jason Day (63), Thomas Bjorn (66) and Luke Donald (68).
Q&A to Steward Cink:
Q – “Are you sad to see the major season end [with the PGA next week]?”
A – “I always am when I haven’t won one.”
THE MISSING 5 PERCENT: Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy left the U.S. after the 2010 season to return to make the European Tour his home. Then he won the U.S. Open at Congressional in June. Now he’s hinted he might return to the U.S. next year. “I’m seriously considering it – 95 percent of me wants to come over here,” he said. On why the change of heart? “I really enjoy it over here,” McIlroy said. “I think it’s good for my career. I feel I play my best golf over here, and I’m comfortable here.”
HIS DAY AT HAND?: Australia’s Jason Day, 23, held the first-round lead for most of the day with his 63, until countryman Adam Scott came home with a 62. But Day has stamped himself as a guy to watch. Day has seven top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR this year, including runner-up finishes at the Masters and the U.S. Open.
NO-BOGEY MEN: Four players shot bogey-free rounds: Adam Scott (62), Jason Day (63), Thomas Bjorn (66) and Luke Donald (68).
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