Woods opens with 67, 2 shots off lead
Tiger Woods kept his head down as the rain fell harder and never broke stride as he followed a series of winding stairs and back doors, each step taking him farther from the Blue Monster. A security guard politely asked for an autograph, and Woods reached for a pen and forced a smile.
A tough day at the office.
He shot 67 and was 2 shots off the lead Thursday at the CA Championship in Doral, Fla.
Woods hasn't lost a tournament since September, a streak that includes six official victories around the world, the last title coming four days ago with a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Bay Hill.
Apparently, he's working on another streak -- the endless pursuit of perfection.
Woods was poised to catch Geoff Ogilvy and Miguel Angel Jimenez, each of whom opened at 7-under 65, until he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the 16th and 3-putted the 18th hole from 70 feet, missing the last one from 5 feet.
Someone asked if the 3-putt bothered him.
"Yeah, I'm (ticked)," Woods said with a cold glare. "You 3-putt 18, you're not going to be happy."
Strange, because it was Ogilvy who referred to the Blue Monster at Doral as a "happy place," for Woods, and that's ordinarily the case. He has won here the last two years, and won this World Golf Championship six times in eight years.
For most, it was a shift in the wind that brought joy.
After practice rounds in ferocious wind, so severe that Ogilvy didn't even bother playing Wednesday, it made a slow shift to favorable conditions, allowing for all but two dozen players in the 79-man field to break par.
Ogilvy got off to a strong start in one respect. He's ahead of Woods.
One shot out of the lead was Stewart Cink, who has played in the final group at three tournaments this year and is playing more consistently than anyone except Woods.
Phil Mickelson rallied from a double bogey in the water with 4 birdies over his final six holes to match Woods at 67, and they were joined by Adam Scott, who is No. 5 in the world and won the Qatar Masters earlier this year with a 61 on the last day.
Puerto Rico Open: Bo Van Pelt shot an 8-under 64 to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour's inaugural Puerto Rico Open at Rio Grande. Ted Purdy and Kyle Thompson opened with 66s on the Trump International Golf Club course. Jerry Kelly, Brenden Pappas, Jeff Overton, Briny Baird and Nicholas Thompson shot 67s.
Van Pelt birdied three of his last four holes en route to his best score since a 64 at the Travelers Championship nine months ago.
Madeira Islands Open: Germany's Sven Struver shot a 6-under 66 in windy and rainy conditions to take a 1-stroke lead in the European Tour's Madeira Islands Open at Santo Da Serra. The 40-year-old Struver, winless since the 1998 European Masters, had 7 birdies and a bogey on the Santo da Serra Golf Club course. South Africa's Hennie Otto opened with a 67, and Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera and Gregory Bourdy and Swedes Peter Gustafsson and Fredrik Widmark shot 68s.