Old magic missing as Tiger tumbles at Bridgestone
It was Bubba Watson who led after the first round at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational yesterday, but the big-hitting American will have to content himself with an honourable mention in dispatches. It was Tiger Woods' performance that was attracting all the headlines.
On the Akron, Ohio course that Woods has dominated more than any other in the last decade - he's won here at Firestone Country Club on seven occasions, including four in his last four appearances - yesterday Woods could only manage to shoot four-over-par. That is the player's worst-ever round here, Woods managing just two birdies and six bogeys, two of them coming on the opening two holes to set the tone. Woods finished in a tie for 70th place, in a field of 81 golfers.
The good news, if Woods is so inclined to look for positives, is that because the Bridgestone Invitational doesn't involve a cut the 14-time major winner has a further three rounds to address Thursday's failings and fight his way back into the tournament. Of course, Woods' misery could be piled ever higher if he proves incapable of emerging from his malaise today - and a weekend's unprofitable toil looks the likeliest outcome.
Before the tournament teed off yesterday, there was much talk of Lee Westwood toppling Woods from the No. 1 spot with a good performance here. Phil Mickelson can also dethrone Tiger as the world's best player with a strong finish, but the Californian's poor record here meant few thought he was capable of triumphing. As it turns out, Westwood is off the pace on one-over today, while Mickelson is right up there on four-under.
Mickelson, along with the USA's Kenny Perry, Australia's Adam Scott and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell are all on four-under-par 66, two shots off the lead set by Watson, who carded seven birdies and a bogey to come home six-under-par 64; that included a run of four birdies between the 11th and 14th.
Of the second-placed contenders, Perry and Scott each played flawless rounds with four birdies apiece, while McDowell had five birdies and a bogey. Mickelson shipped two bogeys, but his six birdies, five on the front nine, keeps his hopes alive of overhauling Woods as the world No. 1.
In the all-star cast that comprise the WGC events, two young hotshots from both sides of the pond were looking good. Both Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and the US's Rickie Fowler tied for 11th place on two-under, though Fowler could have finished still more impressively if not for a couple of bogeys on the 17th and 18th. England's Paul Casey was on the same score, two birdies and no mistakes enough to leave him poised just outside the top 10.
Ernie Els was one-under, as was Ireland's Padraig Harrington. Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald were each on level par, that despite a double bogey for the Spaniard on the 9th. And Westwood was not the only big name failing to break 70 yesterday, the Englishman on one-over along with fellow countryman Justin Rose, Italy's Edoardo Molinari and Japanese hotshot Ryo Ishikawa.
Rose had also double-bogeyed the difficult par four 9th, while Westwood stayed level there but couldn't prevent four bogeys creeping in, alongside his three birdies.
Ian Poulter fared a stroke worse on two-over, and recent Open champion Louis Oosthuizen finished on the same score after a rollercoaster ride of four birdies and six bogeys. And Anthony Kim, making his return to the game after three months off because of thumb surgery, was as rusty as you'd expect, the 25-year-old American hitting six bogeys and one birdie, that final ray of light coming on the 18th.
Kim has the excuse of convalescence, of course, and a damaged digit is likely to heal faster than a frazzled psyche. With no obvious cure for what ails him, Tiger Woods, the defining figure in golf for the last 10 years, looks very much a lost soul right now.
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