AUGUSTA, Ga. - It seems Tiger Woods finally listened to Martha Burk yesterday at Augusta National. On the eve of Burk's protest of the club's exclusionary policy toward women, Woods had his worst opening-round score at the Masters as pro.
It was Burk who suggested Woods not show up in pursuit of his record-setting third straight victory. Woods appeared to be doing just that, his 4-over-par 76 leaving him 10 strokes behind first-round leader Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland.
"I'm still not out of this thing," Woods said after the opening round, his first without a birdie since the third round of the 1999 British Open. "I just need to play a decent round. It doesn't have to be a great round. I just need to make some putts."
Woods made a few in the afternoon, at one point climbing back to 1-over for the tournament and catapulting from a tie for 42nd place to a tie for 13th with three birdies in four holes. A late bogey before play was suspended at 7:30 p.m. left Woods eight shots behind the leader, left-hander Mike Weir of Canada.
Currently tied for 23rd, Woods went in the opposite direction of Spain's Sergio Garcia. After vaulting into the lead early and getting to 5-under through his first 11 holes, Garcia finished the first round at 3-under and then played 11 holes in the afternoon in 5-over to tie Woods.
Asked last night if he liked his position, Woods said, "Actually I'd like to be a little better than I am, but at least I'm on the right track. I made a little bit of progress in the second round. I didn't have to play great in the second round, as long as I played solidly."
Weir, who has won twice this year on the PGA Tour, did that all day. He didn't make a bogey in the rain-delayed opening round until the par-4 18th to finish four shots behind Clarke, whose three-shot lead was the largest going into the second round since 1982.
At 6-under through 30 holes, Weir leads Clarke by two strokes. Phil Mickelson, who shot a 1-over 72 in the morning, climbed into contention with four birdies in the first five holes and is now 2-under through 29 holes. Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Ricky Barnes is at 1-under through 28 holes.
"I would have loved to have finished the round," said Weir, 32, who has five PGA Tour wins but has never finished higher than a tie for 24th in his three previous trips here. "I was in a nice flow with my game. I was hitting my targets. I felt very good with my putter."
