Friday, February 2, 2001
On one good knee, Tiger two
out of the lead
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Despite
a gimpy knee caused by an overzealous fan, Tiger Woods knew all
along he would be able to play in the first round of the Pebble
Beach National Pro-Am. He just didn't know how well.
“I should be able to break 90,”
Woods said after warming up on the practice green early Thursday
morning.
He made it sound like there was a better
chance of the sun shining on the Monterey Peninsula, which it
almost never does when this tournament comes to town, than of
him playing well.
Alas, the rugged California coastline was
awash in sunshine, and Woods broke 90 by 24 shots.
One day after he stepped awkwardly on an
autograph hound and sprained his left knee, Woods set aside the
pain to make eight birdies in his round of 6-under 66, just 2
strokes out of the lead held by David Berganio.
“I knew it was OK,” Woods confessed.
“It felt sore, yes, but when it's time to play, it's time
to play. A friend of mine told me there's a difference between
pain and injury.”
Only Woods knows how badly he sprained the
ligament in his left knee, and there were only a few signs during
his round at Spyglass Hill.
Standing on the first tee, he reached back
with his left leg and tapped the ground twice before belting a
321-yard drive that split the fairway. He winced and favored his
leg after hitting a 3-wood that sailed 274 yards, pin-high just
right of the green, setting up a birdie on his opening hole.
At the end, he hit his stride.
Woods, who missed only one green in regulation,
finished with three straight birdies.
Imagine what he might have done on two good
knees.
“Probably a 73 or 74,” he said
with a smile.
Woods had a 73 at Spyglass last year and
wound up winning the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am by two strokes,
but only after he overcame a 7-stroke deficit with seven holes
to play with an eagle-birdie-par-birdie finish.
A year ago, he was 7 strokes behind after
the first round. This time, he trails Berganio by 2 strokes as
he goes to Poppy Hills on Friday, the easiest course on the rotation
because it has five par 5s.
Berganio also played Spyglass, considered
the toughest of the three courses, and got through without a bogey
in his round of 64. That tied the course record for tournament
play set by Dan Forsman in 1993.
Hardly anyone noticed.
“He's Tiger Woods,” Berganio said
with a shrug. “They're going to talk about him whether he
has a hangnail or a hyperextended knee. I knew he would play.”
Woods was slightly tentative while walking
the first two holes and crouching to read his first putt. His
knee got stronger as the day went on, and so did his game.
“It's definitely sore,” he said.
“It was more sore at the beginning when I first started playing.
The middle part was great, and toward the end it started getting
sore again.”
The only time any pain was evident was the
awkward finish after his 3-wood on the first hole from a downhill
lie, and when he tried to crush a drive on the 529-yard seventh
hole — he hit that one 333 yards to set up another easy birdie.
“The first few drives were kind of
difficult,” Woods said. “It's a little different than
warming up on the range. You have a range swing, then you have
a game-time swing.”
Watching among the gallery was swing coach
Butch Harmon, who noticed a few adjustments, but was hardly concerned.
“He can't get over to his left side
as quickly, which I don't think hurts him,” Harmon said.
“We've been working on getting his lower body more quiet.
I haven't seen it present a problem. He's good at withstanding
pain.”
If Berganio was an unlikely leader, so was
one of the guys tailing him.
Mark Johnson, who took the week off as a
beer trucker driver, qualified for the 180-man field on Monday
and wound up with a bogey-free 65 in the first round, tied with
Tommy Armour III.
“I tell you, it was an awesome day,”
said the 46-year-old Johnson, who turned pro only three years
ago and was making his PGA Tour debut.
Masters champion Vijay Singh, Brad Elder
and Ed Fryatt joined Woods at 66 on a day when 114 players shot
par or better, not all that surprising since the conditions were
close to perfect — mild, barely a trace of wind and no umbrellas.
There also was no brace. Woods put one on
in the morning, but then decided he didn't want to fool with it.
Still, his knee was tender enough that he declined to practice
after his round, opting instead to put ice on it and get ready
for another day.
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