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Lefty Tied For Lead As Tiger Sputters

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The Associated Press

Published: March 13, 2009

DORAL - Tiger Woods returned to stroke play for the first time since winning the U.S. Open, and so much of it felt familiar except for the leaderboard at Doral.

His name was nowhere to be found Thursday at the CA Championship.

His wife, Elin, walked the back nine a month after giving birth to their son. It was her first time watching Woods play since Torrey Pines. Woods found himself more concerned with posting a score than beating one player, as was the case in match play two weeks ago.

The crowd was large, as usual for the Blue Monster, but shouts of "Welcome back!" were replaced by "Vamos, Tigre!"

But as players from all around the globe kept pouring in birdies - relative unknown players like Prayad Marksaeng and Jeev Milka Singh, followed by the familiar name of Phil Mickelson - Woods was stuck in the middle of the pack of an 80-man field.

Mickelson chipped in three times, twice while finishing with three straight birdies, on his way to a 7-under 65 that gave him a four-way share of the lead with Retief Goosen, Marksaeng and Singh.

Woods made only three birdies - two of them on par 5s - and had to settle for a 71 that put him in a tie for 40th.

"I need to be a touch sharper," said Woods, who has never finished out of the top 10 at Doral.

Mickelson has rarely been this excited. He can't recall hitting the ball this long or having a short game this superb. Along with taking only eight putts on the back nine, he pounded a tee shot so far that he had wedge left for his second shot on the par-5 first hole.

"It was just nice to see the ball go in the hole," Mickelson said.

Woods didn't see much of that, twisting his body and buckling his knees when one putt after another failed to drop. It was his highest opening-round score in seven starts on the Blue Monster.

PUERTO RICO OPEN: Monday qualifier Derek Lamely and 20-year-old Australian Jason Day shot 6-under 66s in windy, sometimes rainy conditions to share the first-round lead.

The 28-year-old Lamely, from Fort Myers, is trying to become the first Monday qualifier to win a PGA Tour event since Fred Wadsworth in the 1986 Southern Open.

Michael Bradley, Cliff Kresge, Bart Bryant, Kevin Stadler and Bryce Molder opened with 67s on the Trump International Golf Club course.

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