2012 Wells Fargo Championship: Tiger Woods and Golfers with Work to Do

Tiger Woods almost played himself out of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, NC on Thursday before the front nine was even over.

Appearing in his first tournament since the Masters, Woods bogeyed the first hole and two more on the front nine while only registering one birdie. He hit a mere three fairways and only five of nine greens. He cleaned up his game on the back nine, registering two birdies for a Thursday total of 71, good enough for a one-under par and a tie for 56th place.

He’s already six strokes back of leaders Ryan Moore, Stewart Cink and Webb Simpson, who are all sitting at seven-under after Round 1.

After registering his worst Masters finish as a pro, clearly he’s still working out the kinks of his new swing. Woods has some series adjustments to make, and not a whole lot of time to do it as the meat of the golf season begins to get underway.

But Tiger wasn’t the only star to struggle. Here are two other big names you typically see at the top of the leader board that are looking to shake off a poor first round.

(Click Here Complete First Round Results)

T. 56 Phil Mickelson (-1)

Mickelson would have been in much better shape if it wasn’t for No. 4. He triple-bogeyed it after another Mickelson gamble ended up backfiring, placing him in the woods.

We all know Lefty loves to push the limit, but it cost him dearly on Thursday. It’s going to take a brilliant few rounds to make up this deficit.

But of the three golfers on this list, I’d give him the best odds of making a comeback. He’s the most comfortable on this particular course.

T. 56 Lee Westwood (-1)

The inconsistencies of the former No. 1 ranked player can be maddening.

He was sitting pretty at a three-under after 10 holes, but a double bogey at 16 and a bogey at 18 left him only one stroke under par heading into the clubhouse.

Obviously Westwood is still in the running, but he made the task much more difficult with his sloppy play in the final three holes on Thursday. With the way Westwood has played thus far in 2012, that elusive first major seems to be very far from his grasp. 

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