Tiger four-putts as Olympic greens take their
toll
By TIM DAHLBERG / AP Sports Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The throngs that followed Tiger Woods
around The Olympic Club could only look on in stunned silence.
For eight holes, Woods teased their expectations, striping
the ball down the narrow fairways and throwing iron shots close
to pins. He was tied for the early lead at 2-under going into
No. 9 and could easily have been the sole leader had putts on
the previous two holes not hung on the lip.
Then the greens at Olympic struck back.
Beneath the hole on No. 9, Woods hit his birdie putt within
2 feet of the cup. He tried to jam it in the right side of the
cup, and it lipped out and spun down the green. It took two more
shots to get it in the hole.
Stung by the four-putt, Woods went on to shoot a 4-over 74.
"It was one of those putts that either goes in the bottom
or 8 feet by," said Woods, who three-putted two other holes.
"I was surprised they had the pin in that tough a position
the first day."
Disaster lurked everywhere on the first day of the U.S. Open,
where excruciatingly narrow fairways, thick rough and tiny greens
combined to make every hole an adventure.
But it was the tabletop-like surfaces and pin positions that
were more suited to a Sunday than the first round that had players
muttering to themselves.
"If the greens were much harder, the course would be impossible,"
John Daly said after shooting a 69.
Pins were put on ledges and tucked behind sand traps as the
United States Golf Association sought to make sure there would
be no opening barrage of birdies in the national championship.
It led to situations such as one Stuart Appleby found himself
in after hitting his second shot within 20 feet of the hole on
the short par-4 seventh hole.
The Australian ran his first put up a ridge to the back tier
where the pin was located. But he hit it a bit too hard and the
putt kept going, all the way off the green and into the first
cut of fringe.
The only thing that saved Appleby from a three-putt was the
fact he had to hit his fourth shot with a sand wedge instead of
a putter.
"It's pretty brutal out there," said Fred Couples,
who was watching from the seventh fairway.
Colin Montgomerie, who shot an even-par 70, said it was the
pin positions, and not necessarily the greens, that caused the
most problems.
"I couldn't see them putting the pins in some of these
positions. It's scary," Montgomerie said. "That's why
the scores are so high. It's incredible the way the USGA can limit
scoring. There was not one pin that was a gift."
The pins might have been where they were because the greens
at The Olympic hadn't dried out as much as the USGA wanted them
to this week. After a few days of sunshine and warm weather, fog
shrouded the course Thursday morning and cool conditions kept
the greens soft and receptive.
That could change as the week goes on. If the sun shines on
the weekend, the greens could firm up to where it will take a
very delicate touch to stop the ball.
"If these greens get any firmer, it will take us nine
hours to play," Daly warned.
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