Woods opens with 71, trails Mickelson by six

2009-03-13

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DORAL, FLORIDA (TICKER) —Tiger Woods got off to an adequate start, while Phil Mickelson turned in a blazing finish in the first round of the WGC-CA Championship.

Woods shot a 1-under-par 71 Thursday in the first round of his first stroke-play event of the year, leaving him six shots behind co-leader Mickelson.

Mickelson, perhaps buoyed by the return of Woods, made a magnificent charge on the back nine to climb into a four-way tie atop the leaderboard following a 7-under 65 at the famed Doral Blue Monster.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, India’s Jeev Singh and Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng joined Mickelson at 65.

Mickelson’s late surge stole some of the thunder from Woods, who is playing in only his second tournament since winning the U.S. Open in June. A week after his victory at Torrey Pines, Woods underwent reconstructive surgery on his left knee.

A double-bogey at the third hole provided an inauspicious start for Mickelson, who was even-par thought eight holes before rattling off seven birdies in his final 10 holes, including four straight from Nos. 9-12.

The lefthander capped his round with birdies on the final three holes to shoot a 30 on the back nine.

“I was even par through eight holes and not really getting into the round,” Mickelson said. “I was just trying to get to a point where I could shoot 3- or 4-under par. I ended up making a good birdie on 9 and ran off six birdies on the back side.

“It was just nice to see the ball go in the hole. Obviously, I had some chip-ins. The round could have slid a little bit. I made a double on 3 after hitting the second shot in the water and hit my tee shot on 4 in the water, but I chipped in and made par. I had a couple more chip-ins late in the round, too.”

Woods made his season debut two weeks ago at the Accenture Match Play, where he lost in the second round but boosted his confidence in his repaired leg.

“The Match Play helped a lot to get into the competitive environment, to feel that again,” he said. “Now playing stroke play, it really does feel like we just took three or four weeks off and here we are again.”

Featuring a field of 80 players, the CA Championship has no cut, so Woods is guaranteed to play four rounds in preparation for the season’s first major at The Masters.

Woods got off to a decent start Thursday with two birdies and a bogey in his first six holes but was unable to sustain any momentum. He managed one more birdie and bogey and closed his round with five straight pars.

“It was a little bit frustrating on those greens today,” Woods said. “I hit so many putts that looked good. I thought I hit my lines and thought I had the right speed, but they just didn’t go in.

“It wasn’t like I hit bad putts. That’s the thing. If I was struggling on the greens today, then yeah, I would be a lot more frustrated, but I hit good putts and they just didn’t go in. That’s all right. If you continue hitting good putts, they will eventually start going in.”

Woods does not plan to change his approach for Friday’s second round.

“I’ll just keep doing the same things,” he said. “It’s not like I was playing poorly or struggling all the way around. I had my speed on the greens all day.

“I need to be just a touch sharper. I hit the ball well all day today. If a few putts went in, score would be totally different.”

The only blemish on Goosen’s round was a bogey at No. 18 - his ninth hole of the day. Otherwise, the South African was flawless, carding eight birdies.

“I hit a lot of good shots and putted well,” Goosen said. “That’s always been a key, putting very well. The last couple of years, I have not been putting well. That’s why I tried something new at the beginning of the year, and it didn’t work.

“I felt very comfortable going back to this putter and just changed it a little bit, put a little bit more loft on it, and that seemed to help.”

Singh, in just his sixth PGA Tour start, also had eight birdies and a bogey, as did Marksaeng, who shot a sizzling 30 on the front side.

“I hit the ball well today, and I think it all comes down to putting at the end of the day,” Singh said. “I rolled it well, so I’m pretty pleased with a 65 today.”

Padraig Harrington, the reigning British Open PGA champion, shot a bogey-free 66 and is among four players one shot off the lead.

“I have not had a great run of form so far this year, so it’s nice to shoot a good score,” Harrington said. “I was probably a little more focused on my scoring this week than necessarily anything else. So it is nice to get out there and shoot a decent number.

“I certainly didn’t hit the driver very well today, but again, my head seemed to be in the right place, and I hit my irons well, short game was good. So all of those things added up to a 66.”

Sean O’Hair heads a five-player group at 67 after a brilliant start that featured eagles on the first two holes.

Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy got off to a slow start with an opening 73. The winner of the Accenture Match Play Championship two weeks ago, Ogilvy is attempting to join Woods as the only players to successfully defend a World Golf Championships event title.