THE first wayward shot of Tiger Woods' comeback at the US Open may have hinted at a turbulent return from injury, but by the end of the first day his round looked far from disastrous.
Woods overcame an opening stumble, even though he had a few more along the way, and kept himself in the thick of things after Thursday's first round at Torrey Pines, closing on one-over-par with a 72.
Two years ago, Woods missed the two months bet
ween The Masters and the US Open due to the death of his father Earl. He came back at Winged Foot but never found his rhythm and missed the cut after successive rounds of 76. This year he missed the same span after knee surgery and his start saw him hit a pulled drive into the deep rough left of the fairway.
His third shot bounced off the back of the green and he chipped on before he two-putted for a six.
It was scarcely the start he was looking for but Woods has overcome worse in his career and was able to keep the mis-step in perspective.
"You couldn't ask for a worse start than what I got off to, six on the very first hole out of the gate," Woods said. "I figured you're going to make bogeys out here, I just happened to make two on the very first hole.
"I just wanted to clean it up, get going and get to even-par as fast as I could and then from there, let's get to under-par for the day, and I did that. I got to under-par at the turn and just didn't keep it there."
Woods parred his next two holes before a birdie at the fourth. He added two more on the front nine and was one under par at the turn, but things levelled off on the back nine. He did not make another birdie and had his second double-bogey of the day at the 14th. He closed his round with a three-putt for par on the 18th.
In addition, Woods made it through an entire round on his repaired knee for the first time, and did so without feeling anything out of the ordinary, save for a grimace of discomfort on the 18th tee. "It didn't feel very good, no," Woods said of his knee after the drive on 18. "It's a little sore. I just had to go and play. But all in all, just tee it up and go. I'm right there. I'm only four back and I'm in good shape."
Unheralded American qualifier Justin Hicks upstaged Woods and Mickelson by grabbing the early lead on Thursday. Nationwide Tour player Hicks, helped by a run of six birdies in eight holes, fired a three-under-par 68 in firm, fast-running conditions to edge one stroke clear in the second major championship of the year.
Hicks, competing in only his second US Open, said: "I've never been able to say that I've been under par at a US Open before."
The full article contains 528 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
