Posted by Jason Sobel
He hadn't played in a competitive tournament since mid-December, hadn't played a PGA Tour round since the first day of October. So, despite Tiger Woods' streak of six consecutive tour victories, it was a legitimate question, one we'd ask of any player making his season debut: Would he be fresh or rusty?
Woods answered that question quickly and authoritatively on Thursday, shooting an opening-round 6-under 66 in the Buick Invitational to conclude the day five strokes behind leader Brandt Snedeker.
It may have been the first round in what could be a historical year for Tiger -- any season of his has that chance -- but let the records show he made two bogeys before ever recording his first birdie of 2007. Starting on the back nine of Torrey Pines' North Course, Woods made par, then bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12.
"I was going the wrong way, so I tried to get back to even par as fast as I could," Woods told the Golf Channel. "And I did that."
He wouldn't drop another stroke during the round, following those bogeys by putting together a string of three straight birdies on 14, 15 and 16, then added an eagle on the par-5 18th for a nine-hole score of 33. He matched that total on his second nine, carding another eagle, one birdie and seven pars to shoot a Mario Lemieux.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Woods' game on Thursday? His driving, as he averaged 318.5 yards off the tee and hit eight of 14 fairways.
"It's just the changes that Hank [Haney] and I were implementing towards the end of last year," Woods said in his post-round news conference. "I just need to be more consistent with them because there were times when I drove it great and other times when I would drive it erratic. The times when I was driving it great, like at Sherwood [for the Target World Challenge in December], I was doing the things that Hank and I were working on, and when I didn't do it, I was spraying it. So I just need to keep working on the same things, keep going down that path. I felt very comfortable with it today."
We've been beaten over the head with Tiger's record of success at the Buick (I'm as guilty for the overkill as anyone, I admit), his nine top-10s and four victories in nine career starts already helping to raise expectations entering this week. Will he live up to them and earn his seventh straight tour win? It remains to be seen, but he sure is off to a good start.
• Despite shooting 66, Tiger wasn't even the leader in his own group. John Senden, who had never been paired with Woods before, shot 8-under 64, good for a share of third place through one round.
• On Wednesday, David Duval told reporters, "I feel like my swing and my golf game is better than it's been, certainly in many years. You know, nobody wants to seem to hear, but I dare say it's better than it ever was. I feel like over the course of the last few years I've learned a lot about what it takes for me to play well, what truly are my fundamentals, and I think having such a good grasp of that has made me that much more confident and comfortable in what I'm doing. I feel like I'm playing great again, and it's just simply needing to do the scoring things that add up over four days." It was a prescient comment, but hardly the first time Duval has said this. Perhaps we should all start listening. The 13-time champ equaled Tiger's 6-under 66 on Thursday.
• Keep an eye on Jamie Lovemark this week. The former Torrey Pines High School player and current USC freshman is also at 6-under so far. We might be hearing a lot from this guy before too long.
