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Woods Shoots 67 In 2008 Debut

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The Associated Press

Published: January 25, 2008

SAN DIEGO - Tiger Woods delivered the score he expected in his 2008 debut, just not the game.

Despite playing from the sand, rough and behind a few trees early in his round, Woods began a much-anticipated season Thursday with a 5-under 67 on the tougher South Course at Torrey Pines. That left him two shots behind Troy Matteson, and gave him a strong presence on the leader board as he goes for his fourth straight title in the Buick Invitational.

"It wasn't pretty off the tee, but I hung in there," Woods said.

"Shooting 67 is always going to feel pretty good on the South Course."

Imagine how it felt for Matteson.

He ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine, then finished his round with consecutive birdies to become the first player since Davis Love III in 2000 to have the first-round lead while playing the South.

"I won't top that for a while," Matteson said.

Brad Adamonis had a 66 on the North Course, which is 600 yards shorter and played more than two strokes easier.

Rory Sabbatini, Stuart Appleby and Kevin Streelman, who began the day as the third alternate, were in the group at 67. They all played on the North, which is where Matteson and Woods play today.
Phil Mickelson opened his season with a 70 on the North.

Woods, who hasn't played since winning his Target World Challenge by seven shots on Dec. 16, wasn't the only person returning to work.
Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman was back in the booth after a two-week suspension for jokingly suggesting young players wanting to take on Woods should "lynch him in a back alley." She recorded an apology that opened the telecast.

That seemed to end a month's worth of troublesome news in golf outside the ropes - Tilghman's suspension, the firing of a magazine editor for putting a noose on the cover, and the death of popular caddie Steve Duplantis in Del Mar early Tuesday.

Woods hit only two fairways on the front nine, but picked up birdies with a 10-footer on No. 4 and chipping in from 25 feet on the par-3 eighth.

He also hit 7-iron out of the rough on No. 10 to 4 feet, and holed a 25-foot birdie on the par-3 11th. His lone mistake was a chip from short of the 16th green that bounced high and soft, staying 10 feet below the hole.

PGA EUROPEAN: England's Lee Westwood and South Africa's Anton Haig shot 5-under 67s to share the first-round lead in the Qatar Masters in Doha.

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