Brandt Snedeker upstages world's best - Buick Invitational 2007

It was his first tournament of the year, and his first event as a card-carrying member of the PGA Tour. Sure enough, his hands were shaking so badly the ball slipped out of his hand when he tried to tee it up Thursday on the first hole of the North Course at Torrey Pines.

But there was a reason behind those nerves he never imagined.

Snedeker began his round on the back nine, so he was halfway through his round. And he already was 9 under through nine holes, a record-tying start that allowed him to flirt with golf's magic number.

"It's pretty much a dream come true," the 26-year-old rookie said.

The dream fizzled a few holes later.

Snedeker had a 3-foot birdie putt on the par-3 third that would have taken him to 11 under through 12 holes, and on an easy North Course where bogeys were barely part of the equation, he would have needed only two birdies over the final six holes to shoot a 59.

But he missed it, and never got a closer look at birdie the rest of the round. He gladly settled for an 11-under 61, tying the course record set by Mark Brooks in 1990 and giving him a two-shot lead over Charlie Wi.

"The whole front nine was a blur," Snedeker said, and he proved it a few minutes later. Asked to go over his round, he couldn't remember some of his birdies, much less what those holes even looked like.

But he generated the biggest buzz at the Buick Invitational, reducing two-time defending champion Tiger Woods to a supporting role, even though the world's No. 1 player made two eagles in a 6-under 66 to start well in his bid for his seventh straight PGA Tour victory.

Woods had just knocked down the flag with a 5-iron for a short eagle putt on the 18th hole when he noticed a scoreboard on his way to the first tee that showed Snedeker at 8 under through seven holes.

"We thought it was a misprint," Woods said. "It came up again, so obviously it was not a misprint. That's some great playing."

His second thought must have been, "Who's Brandt Snedeker?"

He's the Tennessee kid with blond hair flowing under his visor, a former U.S. Amateur Public Links champion who turned pro after tying for 41st in the '04 Masters. He didn't get his PGA Tour card until he finished ninth on the Nationwide Tour money list last year, despite missing a month when he tripped over a tree and broke his right collarbone.

Snedeker quickly became the star attraction on a spectacular day in San Diego.

He finally saw a large gallery when he reached his 10th hole -- the par-5 first -- only all those people had their backs turned as they watched Woods pitch to the second green.

"I made a comment to my caddie walking down that fairway, 'Let's see if we can take some of Tiger's crowd away from him because that means we're doing something pretty good,"' Snedeker said. "Sure enough, they started following the whole back nine."

There were shouts of "59" as they called out his name, even if they didn't know how to pronounce it.

"I've had it butchered so many times that it's no big deal," he said. "I've gotten 'Snotlicker' before, so I don't think it could get any worse than that."

His round could not have been much better.

Wi shot a 63 on the North and hardly anyone noticed. John Senden, the Australian Open champion who played with Woods, and former U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney were at 64, with Jose Maria Olazabal and Kevin Sutherland among those at 65.

Woods checked in at 66 and was pleased, especially the way he started.

Snedeker opened with four straight birdies, an eagle, and two more birdies. He didn't make a par until the 17th, when he nearly chipped in, and he took only 10 putts. Woods made bogey on his second hole when a flyer from the rough sailed over the green, and he fell to 2 over par when he three-putted the next hole.

Given the ease of the North Course, "I felt like I was in last place," Woods said.

He turned it around with three straight birdies, followed by a 5-iron from 219 yards that struck the top of the flag and settled 5 feet away for eagle on the par-5 18th. Woods ended with another 5-iron from 209 yards on the par-5 ninth into 7 feet for another eagle.

"Those were two of the best iron shots I hit all day," he said.

He could argue they were the best two iron shots he hit all year considering he hasn't played a PGA Tour event since winning a World Golf Championship on Oct. 1.

Almost as noteworthy as Snedeker's 61 is that the top 23 scores came on the North Course, one of the easiest on the PGA Tour. The real work comes on the South, which is nearly 700 yards longer and will host the U.S. Open next year.

The South played 4.7 strokes harder in the opening round, with Camilo Villegas posting the best score at 67.

Phil Mickelson took double bogey by hitting over the 14th green and into a hazard on his way to a 74 on the South Course, while Vijay Singh made only one birdie in his round of 75.

"The scores on the North were very low, and hopefully I'll get my share," Mickelson said. "But today wasn't the best day."

That wasn't the case for Snedeker.

The only time he was ever 9 under through nine holes was sitting in front of a monitor playing a Tiger Woods video game. Woods was two groups ahead on Thursday, and well behind on the scoreboard.

"I've never even sniffed being that low," Snedeker said. "It was something I'll remember forever."