Tiger off to rough start at Northern Trust event
Tiger Woods joked after struggling to a 4-over-par 75 in the first round at the Northern Trust in New Jersey on Thursday that at least he had broken 80.
The score, which left him 13 strokes behind American leader Troy Merritt, was the latest indication that all is not well with the 15-time major champion’s surgically fused spine.
Merritt shot 62 to lead compatriot Dustin Johnson by one shot on a day when all the good scores came in the morning, before a breeze sprang up and made for a sterner test on the waterfront course within sight of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.
Nobody shot better in the afternoon than the 65 by Englishman Justin Rose.
It was a good day for Canadians, with two of them finishing the opening round inside the top 20.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., leads all Canucks after an opening round 66. The Valero Texas Open champion finished Thursday in a tie for ninth, making eight birdies on the day. Conners entered the playoffs as the highest-ranked Canuck at 31st in the Fedex Cup standings.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., who entered the week 46th, shot a 4-under 67 and is tied for 18th. Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor shot 3-under 68s. Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, who is coming off a T22 at the Wyndham Championship last week, was the only Canadian who struggled, shooting a 2-over par 73.
Woods, on the other hand, could barely have made a worse start at 4-over after nine holes, before somewhat steadying the ship on the back nine.
“I didn’t hit any good shots and didn’t make any putts. Other than that, it added up to a round that broke 80,” he said. “The driver felt fine, but I just didn’t feel sharp with anything else. My iron game, which is usually the strongest part of my game, was off ... my distance control was off.”
Meanwhile, a trio of golfers shot rounds of 8-under 63 on Thursday to lead the Ladies Scottish Open in North Berwick, Scotland, taking advantage of fair weather and an unexpected shorter course.
Leading the way were American Jane Park, Mi Hyang Lee of South Korea and Anne van Dam of the Netherlands, who sat atop a tightly packed leaderboard after Thursday’s first round.
In all, 90 women shot even par or lower on the day, thanks to the organizers shortening the course with an eye toward stormy, autumn-like weather that is forecast for Friday and into the weekend.
The lone Canadian, Alena Sharp of Hamilton, shot 69 and sits tied for 28th.
Five tees were moved forward at the Renaissance Course. Three of the holes played 40 yards shorter than planned.
“On a day like today, the weather was just perfect and I saw no need to do that,” the 23-year-old van Dam told the Herald, a Scottish newspaper.
Van Dam and her group ended the day one stroke up on Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn. Tied at 6-under, two strokes back, were Su Oh of Australia, Caroline Hedwall of Sweden and Chella Choi of South Korea.