Woods Winces But Recovers His Poise After a Painful Start

As if a bad knee and a serious lack of match practice was not enough of a burden, Tiger Woods began his campaign to win the 108th US Open yesterday with a double bogey on the 1st hole after a bad drive, two mediocre chips and a missed five-footer. It was a poor start by the standards of a 10-handicapper, never mind the greatest golfer who has ever played the game, but - and here is the reason he has millions of dollars in the bank and walks around with his initials on his golf cap - it was nowhere near enough to end his hopes of adding to his total of 13 major championships.

Two over par after the 1st, the world No1 was level par by the 8th and on to the leader board by the turn. He struggled to another double bogey on the 14th hole and finished the day with a one-over par 72, four shots behind the early leaders, Stuart Appleby of Australia and Justin Hicks, an American pro who plies his trade on the PGA tour's Nationwide tour.

Appleby has a strong pedigree, as does Lee Westwood, who led the European challenge with a round of 70, but as first-round leader boards go this one was not the stuff of Woods' nightmares. Still, the world No1 was downbeat afterwards, understandably so after three-putting the final green. There was also the continuing problem of his injured knee, on which he recently had surgery but which caused him to visibly wince several times during his round, never more noticeably than on the 18th tee.

"To make two double bogeys and still only be four back is a great position to be in," he said afterwards. "I didn't take advantage of the par fives on the back nine and I can clean that up tomorrow."

It was hard to disagree with that assessment and there were other consolations for Woods on a day which saw the Torrey Pines course provide an atypical US Open challenge, in that the intention of those in charge was to give the players a chance of breaking par.

The world No1 failed to do that, but on the upside he did manage to walk - or rather hobble - a complete 18 holes. He also made four birdies and when he got himself into trouble, he battled on like the champion he is, holing a series of stunning putts for par on the 12th, 13th and 15th holes - all of them over 15 feet.

Last, but perhaps not least, he only succumbed by a single shot in his personal match against his playing partner, and principle rival this week, Phil Mickelson, who birdied the final hole to finish with a level-par 71 - a highly creditable effort, not least because it is clear that Woods is suffering badly with his knee.

Like the promise of Californian sunshine on a June morning, the meeting of the two best players in the modern era had been highly anticipated. Alas, the day dawned as flat and grey, as did a contest that failed to escape from the age-old notion that a player's only requirement on the first day of a major is to ensure he does not put himself out of contention. Neither Woods nor Mickelson did that yesterday but since when did "steady as she goes" rouse the spirit or capture the imagination?

Still, there were a few nuggets for those prepared to mine for them, not least the complete and utter lack of personal chemistry between the two players. While Woods and Adam Scott, the third member of the 8.06am group, spend a fair amount of the day chatting and laughing, Woods and Mickelson spent almost the entirety of the day pretending that the other was not there.

For Mickelson's point-of-view, Woods' frostiness could be interpreted as a compliment - frostiness is part of the world no1's battle armor, at least it is against those whom he considers to be truly worthy rivals - but afterwards the world No2, like Woods, was more interested in the dark cloud than the silver lining.

It was hard to blame him. He missed a series of short putts and, incomprehensibly, turned up on the first tee having decided to play without a driver - a decision that might have seemed clever in the planning but looked ludicrous in the execution, especially on those holes where he was 50 yards behind his playing partners off the tee. Much of Mickelson's appeal as a sorting figure lies in his willingness to push against conventional thinking but today's second round will surely see him make amends for is mistake.

The same might be said of the Englishman Oliver Wilson, who continued to show the form that has seen him vault into contention for a Ryder Cup place. Playing in the group ahead of Woods and Mickelson, he was two-under par with four holes to play only to then bogey three holes to finish with a one-over 72.