Woods wobbly in 2015 debut in Phoenix

PHOENIX — You knew it was going to be that kind of day when his first tee shot landed closer to a fairway home than the fairway. Bad went to worse, and worse went to awful, and suddenly Tiger Woods was sculling shots off the fringe to 20 feet past the green.

One hit a rake.

Another almost hit a tent.

At various points, there was a boulder and bush and cactus involved.

The guy was a mess from his first swing.

Woods made his season debut Thursday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and treated the front nine of TPC Scottsdale like a retired senior might scuffing around his municipal course.

He finished at 2-over-par 73 and was nine shots off the lead when play was suspended because of darkness, meaning the odds of him making the cut and living to see Saturday might rival those of the media voting Marshawn Lynch the most accommodating of Super Bowl players.

“I’ve been through this before,” Woods said. “This isn’t the first time. It takes time. The frustrating thing is I just need to get through competitive rounds, get rounds under my belt and get a better feel for it. Eventually, I will start trusting it and getting my numbers and shaping my shots. Then, you just go play and don’t worry about a lot.”

I suppose it could be worse for Woods.

He could be Robert Allenby.

Who, thankfully, wasn’t kidnapped during his round of 1 under, shoved into a golf bag, thrown in a trunk and driven to Tucson, Ariz.

There is a reason the odds of Woods not winning a major this year are at minus-750, a deeper explanation than merely recovering from back surgery and having not played a tournament since August or competitively since December, when he finished last of 18 golfers at the invitation-only Hero Challenge World Event, which he hosts near his home in Florida.

He doesn’t trust himself.

The retired senior scuffing around his municipal course does things like trying to run balls onto greens instead of hitting conventional chip shots. The guy with a 22-handicap does.

Tiger Woods doesn’t.

But he did Thursday.

He tried putting them on, bumping them on with a 4-iron, anything but picking up a lofted club.

He had no feel or rhythm on the first 12 holes, when he was 5 over and had missed his first four greens. He flew balls far right and left others amazingly short. He treated straightforward chip shots as though they were arduous attempts.

He says it’s all about the new swing pattern.

Again.

He played the final six holes at 2 under, avoiding a totally disastrous round and offering a sliver of hope of making the cut, a chance that might depend on how severe the weather turns. It began raining hard as darkness fell, and more of the wet stuff is expected.

But while Woods continues to move the needle with fans — an opening-day record of 118,461 attended, and the 15,000 that packed the famed 16th hole grandstands didn’t disappoint in terms of noise and rowdiness and colorful costumes — he hasn’t for some time intimidated peers.

Jordan Spieth shot 1 under playing in Woods’ group and is one of the game’s rising stars at age 21. He also didn’t spend a decade or so getting his brains beat out by Woods and, like the PGA Tour’s other young players, only knows the Tiger of today.

It’s not the same.

“The (new swing) is a totally different release pattern,” said Woods, who hit only eight of 14 fairways, 10 of 18 greens and needed 30 putts. “I’m bailing out on some shots because I just don’t believe I have that much speed on my body yet. But I do. I’m ahead of schedule on my speed. Look at how far I’m hitting it. I just have to get committed to hitting a club less sometimes.

“It takes time to be committed to it, and I haven’t had to shape shots for four rounds of a tournament in, what, six months. Physically, I’m fine. I feel great. Mentally, I’m a little tired from the grind of trying to piece together a round. But I was proud that I fought back and gave myself a decent look going into the weekend.”

It gets a little crazy here. The par-3 16th has a much different look than in 1997, when Woods aced it and the crowd lost its collective mind. The entire hole is enclosed by bleachers now, and you figure those selling beer take home a pretty nice four-day total on tips alone, given many fans are plastered by the time the final groups make their way to the tee.

Put it this way: Each year, a lot of people call in sick to work during this week.

The crowd spends its time between groups doing the wave and booing those who don’t take part. On Thursday, one man was dressed as Woods’ front tooth, which was reportedly knocked out at a ski event in Italy while the golfer watched girlfriend Lindsey Vonn compete.

Woods is two shots over the cut line and in 104th place entering the second round, but at least he has a new tooth.

He doesn’t have his old game.

You have to wonder if he ever will.

He’s just another player right now.

And not a very good one at that.

“I waited three holes to see that,” one fan remarked as Woods three-putted the par-3 third. “I see that all the time. That’s me.”

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 100.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.