Woods struggles in return after Masters
he teed it up, but he feels as if he is playing well enough to be a factor.
“Ball-striking-wise, I’m fine,” said Woods, who received a warm welcome from the fans on the first tee box in his return to Charlotte. “I’m right there. If I make a couple putts, I’d be 2 or 3-under par, which is fine.”
Woods said his putting woes may have been the result of starting late in the day. He felt the grass on the greens had grown since earlier. He knows that won’t be the case today when he will be in one of the first groups off the tee.
“It should be a little quicker,” he said.
Woods finished tied for 32nd in his last tournament at Augusta National after a final-round 69. Strangely enough, Woods said Augusta National is probably the easiest course he has played all year in terms of scoring.
“Seriously,” Woods said. “Most of the golf courses I’ve played have been really difficult setups. Augusta was more wide open than pretty much any event I’ve played in so far this year.”
As for Peterson, he started his rookie season on the PGA Tour about the time Woods started to experience back problems. A 29-year-old free spirit who has pledged to retire from golf ’s vagabond lifestyle if he doesn’t earn enough money to keep his card in three events, Peterson made backto-back eagles late in the opening round for his 6-under 65 that gave him a two-shot lead.
Peterson holed a bunker shot from just under 60 feet away on the par-5 seventh hole. Then he holed a 56-degree wedge from 107 yards in the fairway for eagle on the next hole. It almost got even better. From the trees left of the ninth fairway, his approach cleared the bunker and was headed for the flag as the crowd — “seven or eight people and a Golden Retriever in the grandstands back there,” he said — began to cheer in anticipation. It missed. He missed from 8 feet. All was well.
Peterson had never led after any round in 89 starts on the PGA Tour, and he didn’t seem all that worked up over it.
“I’m kind of free-wheeling it at this point,” he said. “I know a little bit has been said about me retiring if I don’t make the necessary money for my medical starts, and all that’s true. If I don’t make it, I’m not playing golf anymore.”
He made clear on more than one occasion he wants to win the Wells Fargo Championship, or the two tournaments he has left. Because of surgery on his left hand two years ago, Peterson started the year needing to make $375,165 in eight tournaments to keep his card. Five events later, he still needs $318,096 and has this week, and then the FedEx St. Jude Classic and Travelers Championship.