A tired Tiger slumbers at Buick Classic
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
HARRISON, N.Y. (AP) - At times, the weariness in his face made
Tiger Woods look older than 21. At other times, the frustration
created a sadness around his eyes that made him look like a lost
kid.
Woods says it is always fun to be on the golf course, but on
Thursday it looked more like work than play as he labored to a
1-over-par 72 in the first round of the Buick Classic at Westchester
Country Club, well off the lead.
While Woods rallied gamely after being 4 over par through six
holes, finishing with two birdies, it was the eighth time in his
last nine rounds he failed to break par.
That statistic stood in sharp contrast to the 11 consecutive
rounds under par Woods played beginning with the first round of
the Masters. Is Woods in the first mini-slump of his career? Is
he feeling slight singes of burnout? Or are people just expecting
too much of him?
"I'm glad I'm taking next week off," Woods said after
a rocky round in which he was anything but the dominant player
who won the Masters by 12 strokes. "I need to get some rest
and then get ready for the British Open."
Woods will rest next week, play in the Western Open, take a
week off and then play in the British Open, the next of the major
championships.
The Buick Classic is Woods' fifth tournament in six weeks since
he returned from a month off following the Masters. And the attention
on him during that six weeks has created many distractions.
Since returning at the Byron Nelson in May, Woods has signed
business deals with American Express, Rolex and Golf Digest, took
a side trip to Pennsylvania to play in a pro-am for a $350,000
appearance fee and dealt with the Fuzzy Zoeller racial flap.
"I'm a little tired," Woods admitted Thursday. "I'm
not as fresh as I was at the Nelson," he said referring to
the tournament he won in his return after the Masters.
Woods teed off at 8 a.m. and almost before he woke up he was
4 over par. There was the bogey at No. 2 when he drove into a
bunker, at No. 3 when he three-putted from 60 feet, at No. 5 when
he hit his second shot behind a tree and had to pitch out and
at No. 6 when he three-putted from a mere 18 feet.
His rally started with a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 9 and kept
going with an 8-foot par-saving putt on No. 10, a 6-foot par-saver
on No. 11 and a chip to a foot to save par on the next hole.
After four routine two-putt pars he finished with a birdie
on No. 17 when he nearly holed his approach shot, hitting to 18
inches, and a two-putt birdie on the par-5 final hole.
"I started slowly," Woods said. "My swing just
wasn't there. But I knew I had to get back to even-par. I'm right
back in the ballgame. Fifty-four holes is a lot of holes."
No matter how Woods plays, he is the center of attention. His
debut as a pro in the New York City area was no exception.
Although the crowd was sparse by the standards at the Byron
Nelson, ticket sales at the Buick were double last year's. And
anything the crowd lacked in size it more than made up for with
feistiness.
As Woods left the ninth green for the 10th tee, three men in
their early 20s scrambled up a TV tower and were chased off by
the ever-present security.
"We've got to follow another player," one of the
three said as he climbed down. "This is ridiculous."
One of the other men said loudly: "I'm Tiger Woods."
There is one part of the gallery, however, that never seems
to abandon Woods: children.
"Woods will catch up," a 10-year-old who identified
himself as Mickey said as Woods played the final hole. "He
has three more days."
Asked why he liked Woods, Mickey said: "He's young, he's
cool and he's a good golfer."
And right now he is also a tired golfer.
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