New putter doesn’t do much for slumping Woods
The guy who has been fiddling with putters because he wasn’t happy with the results finally saw his share of putts go in.
If only Tiger Woods could have looked behind him, he might have seen J.J. Spaun match his best score of the year with a 7-under 63 to share the lead with Andrew Landry in the Quicken Loans National.
Spaun, who has gone back-and-forth with putters four times in his last six tournaments, quietly went about his business Thursday while most of the attention was on Woods in the group ahead of him using a mallet-style putter to help him shake out of a slump.
A new putter gave Woods a better feel, but the same middling results. He had six birdie chances from 10 feet or closer and made two of them to offset a double bogey early in his round. He settled for an even-par 70.
“I shot about the score I should have shot today,” Woods said.
Landry shot his 63 in the morning when the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm was soft, though still punishing with its thick rough. Spaun did his work in the windier afternoon, even if no one noticed. He played in the group behind Woods, and didn’t even get leftovers from thousands of fans watching golf’s biggest draw.
Woods kept the round from getting away with two big par saves to start the back nine, both times having to chop it back to the fairway. He got up-and-down from 147 yards on No. 11 by making a 6-foot putt.
It was the first competitive round for Woods on the TPC Potomac, and his first time playing the tournament since 2015. This also is the last edition, and the field is among the weakest this year on the PGA Tour. Rickie Fowler is the only player in the top 10 in the world, and he also rallied for a 70.
Andrew Putnam also was at 64 while playing in the afternoon. Beau Hossler and Abraham Ancer were another shot behind.
Smoltz struggles in 1st round: Pitching great John Smoltz managed only five pars in his debut at the U.S. Senior Open, shooting a 15-over 85 on a Broadmoor course that was rough on full-time players, as well.
Only six players with morning tee times cracked par in the opening round. Rocco Mediate was in a three-way tie for the lead at 2 under – in the mix again for a national championship 10 years after his epic, 19-hole playoff loss to Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open.
Deane Pappas and Kevin Sutherland were also at 2 under, with Billy Mayfair, Scott Parel and two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen a shot behind.
Much of the buzz centered on Smoltz, the Hall of Fame pitcher who won a three-man playoff last month to qualify.
He found himself buried in the rough for much of the day, and after a triple bogey on his fifth hole, he was fighting to break 80.
Park leads at LPGA: South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to take the first-round lead in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
The 2017 U.S. Women’s Open Champion birdied three of the four par-5 holes at Kemper Lakes in the third of the LPGA Tour’s five majors.
Brooke Henderson, the 2016 KPMG winner and runner-up last year, was a stroke back with Jessica Korda, Jaye Marie Green and Brittany Altomore.
The 24-year-old Park won the weather-shortened LPGA Texas Classic in May.