Tiger four shots back after first round of
Colonial
By MIKE COCHRAN / Associated Press Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - It wasn't Tiger the Terrific, but
it wasn't bad.
Gunning for his third PGA victory in as many starts, Tiger
Woods shot a 3-under-par 67 Thursday and was within four strokes
of the lead after the first round of the MasterCard Colonial.
With a huge, adoring crowd on his heels, the 21-year-old sensation
was off the sizzling pace set by Brad Faxon, who captured the
early lead with birdies at the closing two holes.
Faxon, a winner this year at the Freeport McDermott Classic
in New Orleans, slashed seven shots from Colonial's begrudging
par 70. His 63 was one shot ahead of Justin Leonard and Paul Goydos
with nearly a third of the field still on the course.
Woods, meanwhile, was pleased with his first competitive round
on the course known as "Hogan's Alley" in honor of five-time
Colonial champion Ben Hogan.
"I feel I'm in good shape," Woods said. "Any
score under par is a good score here."
With victories last month at the Masters and last week at the
Byron Nelson Classic, Woods needs a victory here to match Nick
Price's "triple" in 1993.
Referring to rain-softened greens but fast, firm fairways,
Woods said:
"Obviously, people are going to go low today and I have
to keep pace. But I feel I'm right there for the weekend. If the
wind starts blowing, I think you'll see some scores back up."
With what he called a "very mellow" crowd cheering
his every shot, Woods rolled in birdie putts of 3, 10, 8 and 5
feet and was stung only once - a 3-putt bogey from 18 feet at
10.
"I didn't really play all that well," Woods said.
"I drove it well but my iron shots weren't good. I had to
be cautious with my putting because I had a lot of 20-30 footers.
"I'm happy just to get in with a 67."
The massive gallery was neither as large nor as loud as those
at the Nelson but Woods pointed out that "this course couldn't
handle that many people."
Compared with many of the PGA Tour courses, Colonial is a tight
but testy little course nestled along the banks of the Trinity
River.
"Shooting six under par on this golf course is usually
unthinkable ...," said Leonard, a University of Texas grad
familiar with Colonial.
"I'd rather see some wind, to tell you the truth. That's
the way I'm used to seeing this golf course. There's some weather
moving in, but for all you people who aren't from Texas, that
doesn't mean anything.
"So just be patient."
Although he had eight top-10 finishes last year, Leonard's
only PGA Tour victory was the 1996 Buick Open.
Goydos likewise seemed more than a little stunned with his
64, confessing that if he had any expectations starting out they
"might have been negative expectations."
But he opened with a birdie at the par-5 opening hole and dropped
a 30-foot putt to save par at No. 2.
"No. 2 was probably the key hole of the round," said
Goydos, whose lone victory was the 1996 Bay Hill Classic.
"I started out today uncomfortable but sort of gained
momentum - getting better and better - and then, voila! I'll spend
the next 24 hours figuring out what happened today."
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