The Commercial Appeal

Tiger is four back after 66 at Greenbrier

Langley leads on soggy course

- Associated Press

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — For a change, Tiger Woods got off to a good start.

Woods rebounded from a dismal U.S. Open with a 4-under-par 66 in Thursday’s opening round of The Greenbrier Classic, four shots behind leader Scott Langley.

Helped by a morning rain that softened the Old White TPC course in West Virginia, Woods shot his lowest score of the season and matched his best in relation to par.

It was only the fourth time he has shot in the 60s in 21 rounds. None were on the first day of a tournament.

“Overall I can’t really say I hit any great shots, but I hit a lot of good ones,” Woods said. “I hit the ball better than what my score indicates.”

Two weeks ago at the U.S. Open, Woods had the highest 36-hole score of his pro career — 156.

Woods came to Greenbrier ranked No. 202 in the world and faced with the prospect of missing cuts in consecutiv­e tournament­s for the first time since 1994.

For one round, at least, his solid game returned.

“Overall, if you drive the ball well here, you’re going to probably have at least seven shots with 9-iron or below into the greens, and you’re going to have to capitalize on that,” Woods said. “So far I’m one of those guys who did.”

Woods started on the back nine Thursday and birdied three of his first seven holes. He made bogey on the par-5 17th after his drive went into a hazard to the right, and a double bogey from a greenside bunker on the sixth hole left him at 1 under on his round.

Woods said he adjusted his aim later in the round after noticing that playing partners Steve Stricker and David Lingmerth were missing putts on the high side of the hole.

“I lowered my line just a touch, maybe half a ball here and there, and it seemed to pay off,” he said.

Woods finished with three straight birdies, making bending putts of 18 and 19 feet on the final two holes.

“Just trying to get back to 3 (under), and we just happened to pull off a hat trick coming home,” he said.

Jonathan Byrd and Danny Lee were a stroke behind Langley after 7-under 63s. Brian Davis and Ryo Ishikawa were at 64.

Friends Langley and Byrd said they fed off each other during their morning round. They were tied at 7 under before Langley surged ahead with a short birdie putt at the par-4 16th.

Neither has a top-10 finish this season and both need solid results to be among the 125 qualifiers for the FedEx Cup playoffs starting in late August.

“I got a little down on myself earlier in the year because the results weren’t really there,” Langley said. “I kind of looked at myself in the mirror and said, you know, at the end of the day, I need to be the most positive guy in the field week in and week out.”

Langley, seeking his first win on the PGA Tour, finished 25th at the Travelers Championsh­ip a week ago. He hit 17 greens in regulation in his bogey-free round Thursday.

Byrd is in the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption.

“I’m very thankful just to be in the field this week,” he said.

Fans were certainly glad to see George McNeill and Justin Thomas.

Both made holes-in-one on the par-3 18th, triggering advertised tournament payouts of $100 to fans at the hole for McNeill’s ace and $500 for Thomas’ feat, or a total of about $192,000. The next hole-in-one at any point in the tournament on the 18th would net fans $1,000 apiece.

The tournament also gave McNeill $25,000 and Thomas $50,000 for the charities of their choice.

ANOTHER EVENT

French Open at Paris: Maximilian Kieffer of Germany was leading at 4 under par with four holes to play when the first round was suspended because of thundersto­rms.

Victor Dubuisson, Bernd Wiesberger, and Jaco van Zyl completed their rounds in 3-under 68; Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Andrew Dodt had the same score with one hole left.

Graeme McDowell, seeking a third straight French Open title, was 1 over after 17 holes.

Two thundersto­rms disrupted play for a combined 2½ hours at the start of the day.

Kieffer is the most consistent player on the European Tour this season; he’s made 16 cuts more than anyone else. He birdied three of the first five holes, then Nos. 9, 11 and 12 at Le Golf National, which will host the Ryder Cup in 2018.

 ?? STEVE HELBER / ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Tiger Woods shot 66 at the Greenbrier Classic on Thursday and said he “hit the ball better than what my score indicates.” He’s four shots off the lead.
STEVE HELBER / ASSOCIATED PRESS Tiger Woods shot 66 at the Greenbrier Classic on Thursday and said he “hit the ball better than what my score indicates.” He’s four shots off the lead.

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