Tiger Woods started his day like he never missed a beat –
burying a birdie on the first hole next to a roaring and adoring
crowd. But through the first nine holes, that’s all spectators had
to cheer about.
SAN MARTIN
Tiger Woods started his day like he never missed a beat – burying a birdie on the first hole next to a roaring and adoring crowd. But through the first nine holes, that’s all spectators had to cheer about.
The next eight holes saw Woods hit into three sand traps – including two traps on the second hole – and miss a short putt on the third and ninth hole. But Woods still had some glorious moments to make up for some of his mistakes to finish the front nine at 1-over.
But throughout the front nine, it was the amateur Patrick Cantlay that stole the show from Woods.
Cantlay constantly out drove Woods on the front nine to go 3-under – four shots better than the 14-time Major champion. As the pairing progressed through the course, more and more fans started to cheer for the amateur, who through nine holes was in fourth place.
But both golfers are chasing Brandon Steele and Briny Baird, who both carded 4-under par for the day.
Despite windy and at-times rainy weather, Baird scored four birdies on the day without carding a bogey. Instead, Baird collected 14 pars to remain at the top of the leaderboard.
Steele collected five birdies on the back nine to finished tied for the lead at 4-under par. On the front nine, Steele collected one bogey but never shot better than par.
Other notables include Live Oak alum John Ellis, who struggled throughout the day to finish with a 6-over par 77.
Ellis’ day included six bogeys and a back-nine double bogey. Ellis did card birdies on the ninth and 13th holes, but it wasn’t enough.
The round places Ellis in 129th place.
Last year’s champion, Rocco Mediate finished even, shooting 71.
Look online for an update soon.
