‘Old Tiger’ shines while other favourites falter
If it were a heavyweight championship bout, the referee would have stepped in to stop it.
And it may turn out that the fight is, indeed, already over for Phil mickelson and bubba watson, who couldn’t stay inside the ring ropes all day. But for Tiger Woods — looking very much like the colossus who long bestrode the PGA Tour — it’s only just begun.
“That was the old Tiger, that was beautiful to watch,” Watson said Thursday, after the marquee threesome completed its first round of the U.S. Open with its members going in startlingly different directions.
“That’s what we all come to see. He hit every shot shape he was trying to hit. I didn’t see any bad swings.”
While Mickelson lost his opening tee shot in a balleating tree, and Watson, the reigning Masters champ, never looked to be in control of any part of his game, Woods shot a sweet-swinging, stress-free 69, one-under-par on the Olympic Club’s Lake Course, to dust the two lefties by seven and nine strokes, respectively.
They were among the very early finishers on Day 1, but already it was apparent that Mickelson’s 76 and Watson’s 78 were going to make it difficult for them to be around on the weekend, while Woods looked to have such mastery of his golf ball, it was hard to picture him anywhere but in the hunt Sunday for his fourth U.S. Open title.
None was as delighted as long-shot Michael Thompson, who made seven birdies (none on par-5s) en route to a 66 and the early first-round lead. The 27-year-old Alabaman made it to the final of the 2007 U.S. Amateur at Olympic — he lost to Colt Knost — but had plenty of good memories about this place, and it showed.
His four-under-par round, nearly nine shots better than the field’s average, was all the more impressive considering he was playing alongside Steve Marino, who shot 84.
“It’s better than I could have envisioned,” Thompson said, after closing with a birdie at the 18th.
“I would have taken even par. I probably would have taken 2-over. It’s a U.S. Open. Right around even’s going to win.”
But Woods had plenty to smile about, too, despite a couple of sketchy bunker shots that cost him strokes late in the round. He was tied for second with 2010 champion Graeme McDowell, David Toms, Justin Rose and Nick Watney, whose round included a double-eagle at the 17th hole.
“I know I have been hitting the ball this way, and I was able to put it together in a major championship — I’m going to need it the next three days,” said Woods, who was among those starting their rounds at the ninth hole, making for an odd “back-10, front-eight” split on the course.
Woods was the only one of the, er, Big Six to play well Thursday. The featured afternoon group of world No. 1 Luke Donald, No. 2 Rory McIlroy and No. 3 Lee Westwood produced some horrid golf, most notably from Donald, who shot 79, the same score as 14-year-old, eighth-grader Andy Zhang. Westwood carded 73, and McIlroy, the defending champ, 77.
Woods, though, wasn’t even paying much attention to the struggles of Mickelson, who had no swing the first half of his round, and Watson, who pre-advertised his dislike of the course, then played as if he was determined to prove himself right.
“This golf course is so demanding, if you’re off your game just a little bit, you’re going to pay the price, and it’s hard to make pars,” Woods said. “Phil and Bubba were off just a little bit.” That was being more than kind. “It beat me up today. It’s beating me by eight right now,” said Watson, who conceded that Olympic was a good major championship venue, “just not good for me. It’s a lot better than I am. That golf course is too tough for me.”
Not exactly the attitude you would expect of a Masters champion, but that’s Bubba, and he continued to hit his pink driver all over the place, even as Woods was putting on a clinic of course management, hitting midirons off some tees and using the big club just three times all day. So, how did Bubba Golf work out? “I shot 8-over,” Watson said, “so, not too good.”
Mickelson’s 76 wasn’t so much the productofbaddecisionsasbadswings, starting with his first, a pull-hook deep into the trees to the right of the ninth fairway.
“I was trying to make sure I hooked it into a slice wind, and I pulled it over into the trees, and it must have stayed uptherebecausenobodyeversawitor heard it come down,” he said, having had to trudge back to the tee and hit his third shot on the 454-yard par-four. “I made a pretty good bogey there. I just let it continue, unfortunately, and I wasn’t able to get it stopped.
“I fought hard there for awhile trying to keep it a few over. But it was a tough day when you play the way I did.”
Woods has had these flashes before in majors on his comeback trail, but he’s won twice already this year — Arnold Palmer’s tournament, and Jack Nicklaus’s — and this one looked convincing because of the way he manoeuvred the ball and made smart choices off the tees.
Among early finishers, Woods was tied with David Toms, three strokes off the lead.