KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — It was hot and humid, and his putts were lipping out. Tiger Woods felt like he had been run over halfway through his first round in Malaysia since winning the 1999 World Cup on the same course.
Only one way to fix that: The 14-time major winner sank five birdies on the back nine Thursday and finished with 5-under 66 to trail first-round leader Troy Matteson by three shots.
Matteson had eight birdies in his 63 to take a one-stroke lead over fellow Americans Jeff Overton, Brian Harman and Robert Garrigus.
After birdies at the third and fifth holes, Woods missed two short putts for par at the eighth and ninth and seemed frustrated, frequently wiping his face and neck with a white towel and glaring after the balls that didn't drop in.
Knowing it was going to take a total of around 20 under to win on the 6,909-yard Mines Resort and Golf Club course, Woods decided the only way to get into contention was be aggressive in the PGA and Asian tours co-sponsored event.
"It's a different type of mind-set," he said. "Going out there and shooting even par on that front nine, I just felt like I got run over."
Matteson had missed the cut in his past two PGA Tour starts and failed to break par in any of his past four competitive rounds. But he posted his lowest score since a 61 at the John Deere Classic in July, when he finished second after a playoff in his best result of the season.
He had birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 11 and finished with four straight, closing by holing his third shot from the greenside bunker on the par-4 18th.
"The pin is really tricky on 18. I knew I'd be doing good if I could leave myself 7 or 8 feet for par, and it bounced and slam-dunked in the hole," he said.
LPGA: Inbee Park of South Korea shot 7-under 65 for a two-stroke lead over local favorite Yani Tseng after the first round of the Taiwan Championship in Yang Mei. Tampa's Cindy LaCrosse was at 3-over 75 and Tampa resident Kristy McPherson at 4-over 76.
Loading...