Uneven putting leaves Tiger six shots behind
CHARLOTTE – Playing rugged, redesigned and muscled-up Quail Hollow Club for the first time since 2012, Tiger Woods needed just two days to recognize that the course has become a grind, a much tougher test for the combatants in the Wells Fargo Championship than in years past.
A stout opening six holes featuring a mix of length, thin fairways and puzzling greens can get a player going sideways in hurry. The closing three holes, dubbed the Green Mile, is a 1,170-yard stretch of nasty that can send a player packing in a hurry after missing the 36-hole cut.
In other words, it’s not the easiest place to return to the PGA Tour after a three-week break following his disappointing tie for 32nd in the Masters.
Especially when his putter was not cooperating.
But Woods clawed his way around the difficult track in the sun-splashed first round to stay in touch with the leaders. Digging deep instead of getting discouraged, remaining calm instead of flashing anger, Woods called upon all of his talents to shoot an uneven, even-par 71. He stands six shots behind John Peterson, who ended his round late in the day by making back-to-back eagles, first holing a bunker shot from 56 feet on
the par-5 seventh and then holing his second shot from 103 yards on the par-4 eighth en route to his 65.
While his new irons, a TaylorMade prototype set of muscle-backed blade irons, worked out OK and his driver was solid, Woods’ old Scotty Cameron putter, the one he’s used in 13 of his 14 major championship triumphs, was a tad on the cold side. He needed 31 putts, with most of his bad ones missing on the right side, especially when he took three putts on the fourth hole and three putts on the 16th hole.
“I hit the ball fine. I just struggled with my speed on the greens all day,” said Woods, who joked that he might break out a long putter for the second round. “The greens are springy and firm but slow. That’s a tough combination. If I just make a few putts, I shoot 2 under, 3 under, but I just didn’t make anything. I have to make the adjustment.”
Woods weathered the first six holes despite missing good birdie chances on four of the holes and went to the seventh tee with just one blemish on his scorecard — a bogey on the par-3 fourth where he came up short with his tee shot and missed a 7-footer for par.
Then he started making his hay on the easier holes, starting at the seventh where he canned a 9-footer for birdie. He found another red number on the par-4 eighth where he knocked in a 28-footer for birdie.
Momentum wasn’t sustained, as he parred the ninth and played his sloppiest hole on the par-5 10th, one of the easier holes on the course. He drove his tee shot into a bunker, laid up but then missed the green with a short iron from 148 yards. From there he didn’t get up-and-down for par, missing from 7 feet.
He got away with poor putts on the next three holes but managed pars. He got another par on the drivable
par-4 14th, missing his birdie chance from 4 feet. Then, as was the nature of his round, Woods followed a birdie from 3 feet on the 15th with a three-putt bogey from 15 feet on the 16th. Staying the course of his up-and-down day, he left his 73-footer for birdie on the
par-3 17th a woeful 17 feet short but responded with his best putt of the day and made par. Then, after hitting his best shot of the day from a fairway bunker on the
18th hole, an 8-iron from 181 yards to 9 feet, he missed the putt.
But there were more smiles than frowns after the round, no rage to speak of. He’s been a great putter his entire life, rarely having a problem with the shortest club in his bag, so he’s confident he’ll find the solution. And he started looking quickly.
“As soon as I’m done talking with you guys,” he said to reporters when asked when he’ll start working to find a fix.