In a dense, soupy fog that settled over Pebble Beach in the first round of the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods was not hard to find.
He made it perfectly clear today that once again he's the man to beat.
Woods started the day under the sun and ended it by using three
corporate tents to map his tee shot through the shroud of fog on
the 18th hole. Along the way, he pieced together a masterful
6-under 65 for the lowest U.S. Open score ever at Pebble Beach and
a one-stroke lead over Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Four months ago at Pebble Beach, Woods stormed from seven
strokes behind on his final seven holes to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
The view from the first round was much better, even if he could
barely make out the green from 200 yards away in the white shroud
of fog.
"I think it's a lot easier to play from a spot near the lead
than it is when you're that far behind," Woods said. "I'd much
rather have the lead than try to catch up.''
The first round was delayed at 3:56 p.m. PDT because the fog had reduced visibility to about 100 yards. Play never resumed and was suspended for good at 6:28 p.m. with 75 of the 156 players still on the course. They will return at 6:45 a.m. Friday to complete the first round. The second round will begin at 8 a.m., one and half hours later than originally scheduled.
Tiger Woods acknowledges the crowd after finishing his first round at the 2000 US Open. Allsport
Among those who didn't finish were Nick Faldo at 4 under and former U.S. Open
champion Corey Pavin at 3-under. They will return at sunrise to
finish their final five holes.
"It's a shame," said Jack Nicklaus, who was 2-over at the turn
when play was suspended. "It's really beautiful weather for Pebble
Beach. There's no rain. There's a nice temperature. But we can't
play golf because we can't see."
Should Woods hang on to his lead, it would be his third major
championship in which he has led after the first 18 holes. He also
got off to fast starts in the 1998 British Open at Royal Birkdale
and the PGA Championship at Sahalee later that year.
He didn't win either one, but this isn't the same Woods.
A winner in 11 of his last 20 events on the PGA Tour, a
contender on a weekly basis, Woods once again showed few flaws --
even though it would have been hard to see them, anyway.
Woods called it "June Gloom,'' a season when hot weather inland
collides with the cool Pacific air and swallows up the Monterey
Peninsula in an eerie cover of thick fog.
It could be "June Doom'' for everyone else.
It certainly was for John Daly, who withdrew after taking a 14
on the last hole for an 83.
Daly, just 3-over on the day, hit one ball out of bounds, three
in the ocean, hit a left-handed shot from against the sea wall in
the bunker and walked off the course without talking.
Jimenez, whom Woods beat in a playoff at Valderrama in November,
made three straight birdies on the front nine and finished with an
18-foot birdie putt for a 5-under 66.
"I made a lot of crucial putts, and you have to do that in a
U.S. Open,'' said Woods, who spent two hours working on his stroke
late Tuesday afternoon.
John Huston took advantage of being in the second group off,
when sunshine bathed Pebble Beach with only a fresh breeze. He had
a 4-under 67, his best start ever in a U.S. Open.
Right behind was Bobby Clampett, who knows Pebble better than
anyone else, having grown up on the Monterey Peninsula. In his
first U.S. Open since 1986, in his first tournament of the year,
Clampett birdied four of the first 10 holes and finished with a 68.
"Can you believe this?'' Clampett said. "It was extremely
emotional for me. At times out there, I was fighting off the
tears.''
Just as amazing as Woods's 65 was the fact he made no bogeys, a
rarity in any U.S. Open. Woods saved par from 15 feet on the 11th,
made a 10-footer on the hourglass green at No. 17, and got
up-and-down four other times for par.
The fog kept the greens from getting too crusty and the wind was
moderate at best. Clearly, this was the day for scoring. But as so
many others found out, the U.S. Open is never a championship to
attack at will.
Hal Sutton, who holed an 8-iron from 136 yards for eagle on the
opening hole, was at 6 under until he missed the green left on the
par-5 14th and paid dearly.
His chip from spinach-like rough went over the pin, down the
slope and off the front of the green. He failed to get up-and-down
and finished off his round of 69 with another bogey on the 18th
when he hit into the rough off the tee.
Because of the fog, he didn't realize he was in the rough until
he got there.
"I elected to hit 3-iron to where I could see," Sutton said.
Phil Mickelson, the runner-up at Pinehurst No. 2 a year ago, got
off to a rocky start but made birdies on three of his last six
holes for an even-par 71, along with England's Lee Westwood, Paul
Azinger and Tom Lehman.
Not everyone was that fortunate.
David Duval had a 40 on the back nine with bogeys on both par 5s
and had a 75. Jeff Sluman, the runner-up at Pebble Beach in the '92
Open, had a 78.
Still, no one was willing to concede to Woods quite yet.
"He put up a very good score,'' said Sergio Garcia, who wore
knickers to honor the late Payne Stewart and had a 75. "But if you
shoot 1 or 2 under, he could struggle very easily on this course.
You can go 2 or 3 over just like that.
"The tournament is not over,'' the 20-year-old Spaniard said. "It just started.''
Woods hasn't shown much capacity to struggle anywhere, much less Pebble Beach. On his last competitive round on the spectacular course along the rugged California coastline, he had a 64 to cap off his thrilling comeback.
Woods immediately thrust himself into the thick of the championship with a tap-in birdie on No. 4 and a 15-foot birdie putt on the dangerous par-3 seventh hole. He made another nice save from the thick collar around the eighth green, lofting a chip to a foot.
"I don't think anyone is trying to catch me,'' Woods said. "Everyone is trying to set themselves up for a nice little run on Sunday.''
At this rate, that might not be possible.
Told that his 65 was a U.S. Open record at Pebble Beach -- Gil
Morgan and Wayne Grady had a 6-under 66 in 1992 -- Woods shrugged.
"If I do it four straight days, it would be pretty good,'' he
said.
