In 2000, Tiger Woods stunned the golfing world with a legendary performance at the U.S Open. At the daunting Pebble Beach golf course, he not only handled the legendarily difficult golf course with ease, shooting a -12, but he utterly crushed the competition by finishing 15 strokes ahead of his nearest competitor.
This year though, it’s a different story as Woods failed to shoot a single birdie in the opening round of the 2010 U.S Open, the first held at Pebble Beach since 2000. Woods shot a 74, three shots over par and five strokes off the lead. Woods though didn’t seem too concerned as of yet, as there is still plenty of golf to play.
"There's a long way to go," said Woods afterward. "Just keep plugging along and see where I come Sunday afternoon."
For Woods though, he’s already eight strokes off of his legendary 2000 pace, although replicating that would be an incredible feat. He started strong, shooting the first eight holes at par, but faded down the stretch. Woods three-putted a bogey at the 16th hole and bogeyed once again at the 18th.
Pebble Beach claims more victims
While Woods’ incredible 2000 record is almost certainly out of reach, the good news for Tiger is that the rest of the players fared little better against the course. In almost perfect golfing conditions, only nine players broke par.
Phil Mickelson, another favourite to win, did no better than Woods, shooting a +4 75. Like Woods, he also failed to record a single birdie, putting him six strokes off the leader. Mickelson said he didn’t think a single player would manage to stay under par by the end of the tournament, but the 2010 Masters winner also said he needed to improve his play.
"There's no way under par is going to win here, I don't believe," Mickelson said. "I think over par will win. Because of that, I'm right there. But I need to play well. I need to putt well, score well. I've just got to get sharp on the greens."
De Jonge, Micheel and Casey lead
There were a few players who had more success. At the end of the day, the lead was shared by three players. Shaun Micheel, Paul Casey and Brendon de Jonge all managed to stay two shots under par for a 69. De Jonge had the best shot of the day, scoring an eagle, while Micheel and Casey both recorded birdies on the 18th hole to take a share of the leaderboard.
Even leader De Jonge commented on the difficulty of the course. When asked to describe the course, he repeated what many other players had said.
“[The course is] obviously very, very difficult. But I would say that the setup was fair. Obviously it got a little bit bumpy this afternoon on the greens. And you have to try to stay patient. You could hit a good putt that didn't go in and hope some of your bad ones do, it evens out,” said De Jonge.
The course was set up this year to be even more difficult, with greens being pushed towards the coast, and the length of certain holes having been extended. Pebble Beach, one of the most difficult courses on the PGA tour is famed not only for its beautiful scenery, but also for its thick rough, narrow fairways, daunting cliffs and small greens that make under par rounds very difficult.
Despite this, Pebble Beach remains a favourite of professional golfers, including leader Paul Casey.
“It's a wonderful place to be any time of the year, let alone when it's gorgeous sunshine and it paid dividends.”
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