Hayes off to fast start with 64

Tiger Woods headed to the range to cure what sounded like a lengthy list of ills in his game despite shooting a 3-under-par 68 today that left him within four shots of J.P. Hayes's Nissan Open lead after the first round.

Hayes, whose only PGA Tour victory came in the 1998 Buick Classic, began his round at Riviera Country Club with an eagle 3 on the first hole, then birdied No. 2 to jump-start his round of 64.

Robin Freeman, half a brother act near the top of the leaderboard, was one shot behind Hayes with a 65. Jeff Freeman, a club pro, was another shot behind in a group at 66.

Ernie Els opened defense of his Nissan title with a 69 on a warm, sunny day, with the course drying rapidly after rain earlier in the week.

Woods, whose six-tournament win streak ended last weekend when he tied for second behind Phil Mickelson at Torrey Pines, was mostly happy with his opening round at Riviera.

"One bogey and it was a three-putt; you can't get mad at that," said Woods, who rushed and missed a par putt of 1 1/2 feet on No. 6. "I hit the ball well enough to shoot a low number, I just didn't. I just didn't make a lot of putts.

"I rolled the ball well, but I lipped out probably four or five putts and there's nothing you can do about that."

Still, soon after he rammed home a tricky 12-footer for par on No. 18, Woods rushed off to work out some perceived kinks in his game.

"Right now I need to work on my hip turn, my right knee flex, my left arm at the top, my left wrist, as well as getting my club out in front of me," he said in one streaming sentence, adding, "and my footwork as well."

Hayes, who made his tour debut in 1992, said his game was "solid all day."

"I hit a lot of good iron shots, hit 16 greens, putted pretty well, hit a lot of fairways. I guess I just played well," he said.

Robin Freeman, winless on the tour, was almost as happy about his brother's 66 as he did with his own, one-shot better score.

"He looks like he's got it together now. He's a really good player. It looks like he's trying to catch me. He won't though," Robin Freeman, at 40 three years Jeff's senior, said with a laugh.

Jeff Freeman also was pleased to see his brother shoot low, saying, "We pull for each other so hard. I hope he breaks out soon."

Nick Price, making his first U.S. start of the year, seemed relieved after shooting a 67.

"I was about ready to file an autopsy report on my game," he said. "I've been through a lot of down, but I'm definitely on the way up."

The group at 66 also included Mark Brooks, Neal Lancaster, and Bob Tway.

David Duval and John Daly both were six shots out of the lead after opening 70s.

Casey Martin, allowed to use a cart in tour competition under a federal court order, shot a 71. The tour rookie has a circulatory disorder in his right leg.

DIVOTS: Duval has switched caddies, parting ways with Mitch Knox after 2 1/2 years and 11 wins. Duval has Jeff Weber, whom he had previously employed for four years, on his bag this week, and told Golfweek he plans to use Greg Rita next week for the match play competition at Carlsbad, Calif., with hopes of hiring Rita full time. ... Woods said the throngs following him around Riviera are generally well-behaved, but added: "Except for the few that want to be rowdy just to be rowdy. You can see some of them already tipping back their beverages of choice, so it's going to get louder as the weekend comes along." ... CBS's coverage of last Sunday's final round of the Buick Invitational, with Woods trying to extend his win streak, was 8.0, up 27 percent from a year earlier, when Woods won the tournament. The 8.0 was the highest for a tournament -- other than the Masters and PGA Championship -- since the final round of the 1985 Bob Hope Classic got an 8.3 rating. CBS's six weekend golf broadcasts this year have averaged a 4.0 rating.

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