Golf:Tiger Woods declared himself satisfied as he fired a three-under-par opening round in the Farmers Insurance Open at the Torrey Pines course in California. Wodos, playing his first tournament of the year, finished with a round of 69 after three birdies which saw him five shots behind South Korean rookie Sunghoon Kang.
Woods, who played the North Course, said: “I’m happy with the way I played. I could have been a lot better if I took care of the par fives a little bit more, but obviously, I didn’t do that.”
Rookie Kang hit birdies on the final two holes of his round on the North Course for a round of 64 and eight under par, seeing him finish one shot better than fellow rookie Chris Kirk, Alex Prugh and Rickie Fowler.
Phil Mickelson shot 32 on the back nine for 67 which was equal to the best score on the tougher South Course and also equal to that of John Daly. Woods has not played at Torrey Pines since his 2008 US Open win, missing out in 2009 because of knee surgery and last year as he was in a Mississippi addiction clinic after details of his extra-marital affairs became public.
Kang admitted: “This course, all the par fives are reachable, so I really tried to keep to the fairways and it worked really well. And I really had a good chance on the par fives. That’s why I played very well today.”
Kang had an eagle at 14 as he chipped in from 25 feet and finished the par fives four under, leaving Woods and the field in his wake.
Just one year after threatening to quit the game at Torrey Pines, John Daly charged into contention at the spectacular coastal venue with an opening five under 67. Daly, whose outlandish attire and booming drives have proved a massive draw, birdied his last two holes on the difficult South Course to end a sunny day three shots off the lead.
"It was just one of those days that was real solid," Daly said after carding seven birdies and two bogeys. "You look at the hardest holes on each course here and if you don't hit the fairway, you're almost guaranteed a bogey because of the rough. But I managed to play the hard, hard holes really good today."
Playing this week on a sponsor's exemption, Daly is delighted to be back at a venue where he recorded the most recent of his five PGA Tour titles.
"It seems a long time ago," he said of his victory in 2004 when the event was known as the Buick Invitational. "Everybody's saying: 'Hey, it's your 20th anniversary for the PGA (Championship)'.
And I'm going: 'Oh, my God. It was '91 when I won that, and 16 (years ago) on the British'. Seems like a long time ago."
Daly has spent most of his adult life struggling with alcohol, anti-depressants, gambling, binge eating and divorces and 12 months ago at Torrey Pines he said he was finished with the game after missing the second-round cut.
"I'm done... with golf," he told reporters after carding a 71. "I just can't do it any more. I'm tired of embarrassing myself. I can't keep taking spots from guys out here playing this bad."
Reminded of that outburst, Daly replied: "You get frustrated. You know, this place means a lot to me. You think about winning here and stuff like I did in '04, and you see Tiger (Woods) and the top golfers play here every year. That says something. It's a special place. This is one of the greatest golf courses that we ever play."
