Greenbrier Classic 2012 Leaderboard: How Tiger Woods and Top Golfers Are Faring

The 2012 Greenbrier Classic kicked off yesterday and a number of top golfers elected to participate in the relatively new tournament (it began back in 2010).

However, many of these superstars have been struggling. Tiger Woods had a particularly tough go over the first 18 holes in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Let’s take a look at how he—and a few other elite competitors—are doing as Round 2 is getting set to begin.

Webb Simpson

The 2012 U.S. Open champ is in contention early, as he shot a nice five-under par and is just two back from the leader, Vijay Singh.

Simpson has moved all the way up to No. 5 on the Official World Golf Rankings, trailing just Tiger, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald.

Considering he is faring better than all four of those greats, there is a chance that the young man continues to make a surge toward No. 1.

Phil Mickelson

Lefty is struggling at Greenbrier, much like he did last year when he missed the cut.

He shot a 71 (good for one over par) in the first round and must improve his decision making and get back to the fundamentals if he wants to turn this thing around.

While Phil doesn’t need a win here, it would be nice as the fan favorite prepares for the Open Championship on July 19.

Tiger Woods

Woods matched Mickelson with a 71 over the first 18 holes. He’s blaming his poor performance on a lack of prep time heading into the tournament.

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"I was a little bit off with my game, and on top of that I didn't have the speed of these greens at all," said Woods, the tour leader this year with three victories. "I missed literally every single putt high today."

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Tiger did not get a chance to actually play the course until Wednesday, so it is understandable that the 14-time major winner is having some struggles.

Leaderboard		R1	Total		Thru
1	Vijay Singh	-7	-7			18
T2	Jeff Maggert	-6	-6			18
T2	Jonathan Byrd	-6	-6			18
T2	Martin Flores	-6	-6			18
T5	Andres Romero	-5	-5			18
T5	J.B. Holmes	-5	-5			18
T5	Garth Mulroy	-5	-5			18
T5	Webb Simpson	-5	-5			18
T9	Jerry Kelly	-4	-4			18
T9	Ken Duke	-4	-4			18