Tiger Woods putts as his caddie Steve Williams looks on during a fog delay yesterday
When the fog eventually lifted to allow the 92nd USPGA Championship to tee off
here yesterday a familiar figure emerged to make a familiar march to the top
of the leaderboard – before what has recently become a familiar slip took
him straight back down again. Nevertheless, compared to last week's horror
show, Tiger Woods' 71 was the stuff of Hollywood dreams.
Certainly it enjoyed a happy ending. The birdie on his last hole (the ninth)
was classic Woods. He span it in to seven feet, rolled in the putt and made
his way to the journalists to make his pronouncement. "Welcome to golf
– it's a fickle game," he said. "Guys shoot 59 and don't win."
True. But the guys who shoot 74-72-75-77 do tend to end up near the back of
the field as Woods was when last-but-one on Sunday. So as he stood there,
three behind the early clubhouse pacesetters, America’s Bubba Watson and
Italy’s Francesco Molinari, his enthusiasm was understandable. "I
played too good not to shoot under par," he said. "Even to have
end up at level par would have been very disappointing." He had just
signed for an under-par total for the first time in eight rounds.
Yet the start hinted at something more special. Three birdies in his opening
five holes took Woods to the head of the field. How Corey Pavin must have
enjoyed that sight, however brief it was to last. The US Ryder Cup captain
could do with his problem player doing him a favour on Lake Michigan in
this, America's final qualifying event. To leap into the eight automatic
berths, Woods requires, at the very least, a top-10 finish. And the first
blows of the year's final major sent the hopes soaring.
The three-hour delay (which was to ensure only half of their field completed
their first day) kept him waiting, although he seemed rather pleased. "I
got to eat three breakfasts, so that's always good," he said. He
proceeded to gobble up the greens. A 10-footer on his opening hole (the
10th), an eight-footer on the 621-yard 11th and a nine-footer on the 13th
put him at the head of the leaderboard. This was the first time this torrid
season that Woods had appeared on the highest rung and, for those moments,
Tiger was looking like Tiger again, particularly on the greens. "I felt
so much more comfortable over the putter," he said. "I got my
lines back. I got everything lined up where I could release the blade, toe
is moving again, which is great, something I like to feel. It felt good."
But then the errors crept in and Woods was forced to fight them away. He did
so quite spectacularly on the par-five fifth (his 14th) after he snap-hooked
his drive into the hazard. His rescue attempts were not so successful on the
15th, second and sixth. Mere blips, in his opinion. "This certainly
gives me confidence, because I was able to control my trajectory," he
said. "When the wind blows like this, you can't just hit the ball in
the air. Driving the ball, I was able to control it both ways."
Woods is not the only professional who came to Wisconsin with a sense of
urgency. Sergio Garcia must win this week if he wants to make his sixth
appearance in the Ryder Cup. That was the uncompromising message from the
Europe captain, Colin Montgomerie. "Unless Sergio finishes extremely
high here, in the top one, we won't be seeing him at Celtic Manor,"
said the 47-year-old. "Yes, he has to win this week. Sergio has said he
will take a two-month break if he isn't in the Ryder Cup and I think that's
right. He's got stale with the game." After a 78, Garcia may as well
pack for his holidays.
In truth, Montgomerie could do without another high-profile European requiring
a wild-card. With three events to go, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Justin
Rose, Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson are all out of the nine automatics.
Casey escaped with a 72 after chipping in twice, while Harrington, just
€13,000 behind Miguel Angel Jimenez in the last qualifying spot, was sloppy
in his 75. Meanwhile, Molinari showed no sign of relaxing his grip on a spot
at Celtic Manor. He could toe his younger brother into the team. Edoardo did
his own chances no harm as he matched Woods.
These should have been the issues distracting Montgomerie's mind yesterday as
he began his own competition. As it is there were more pressing personal
problems rattling around his cranium as he laboured to five over in the 14
holes he managed to fisnhed before darkness dropped.
He awoke here yesterday to discover the national newspaper for which he is a
columnist had revealed the Scot had obtained an injunction to halt media
revelations about his private life. He and his wife, Gaynor Knowles, were
pictured on the front page on their wedding day two years ago. As the
salacious rumours continued to circulate on the range, this was the last
thing Montgomerie would have wanted. The European Tour felt obliged to issue
a statement, backing their besieged skipper.
"We have absolute confidence in Colin as Europe's captain," said
Richard Hills, the Ryder Cup director. "We look forward to him standing
on the first tee at Celtic Manor when the 2010 Ryder Cup starts exactly 50
days from now." Just the 53 days to go then, Monty.
USPGA early first-round leaderboard
4 under (18 holes unless stated):
B Watson, F Molinari (It).
3 under
J Day (Aus), R Moore (It), C Howell (14).
2 under
J Furyk (18), K Kyung-tae (S Kor), M Laird (Sco), J Merrick, M Sim (Aus), B
Davis (Eng) (17), G Bourdy (Fra) (14), D Horsey (Eng) (9), D Hutsell (4).
1 under
S Elkington (Aus), S Gallacher (Sco), E Molinari (Ita) (17), R Palmer (17), T
Jaidee (Thai) (16), B Gay (15), T Woods.