Tiger Woods Leads By Two at Quail Hollow

Tiger Woods appears to be all the way back and then some.

In only his fifth tournament since winning the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines he shot a bogey free, seven birdie, seven-under par 65.

His last outing was the Masters where he finished tied for sixth after his Sunday charge fell short with bogeys on 17 and 18.

Before that he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in dramatic fashion, sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on the last hole to win by one stroke for the second year in a row.

The reconstructed left knee is really 100 percent with no swelling which means Woods can practice again right after playing a competitive round of golf.

“My last practice session (after a round), except for Augusta that one round, was the British Open (in) 2007.” To go to the practice tee after a round and correct things immediately is an advantage Woods hasn’t had in almost two years.

“We usually practice after the round, warm up, play, then practice. And I haven't been able to do that. One, my leg wasn't very good for a long period of time. And then when I was coming back this year I didn't do it just because you just want to get off of it, ice it, elevate it, and make sure everything is okay for the next day. It's exciting to be able to go out and practice again and not have to worry about it.”

Woods had only one birdie on the back nine, but shot a record tying 30 on the front nine.

“I hit the ball actually not bad today. I hit a couple loose shots here and there, but I really putted well. I had a couple key saves that kept the round going. It's always nice when you birdie the last three.”

His putting is on the right line with the right speed.

“Augusta was a little bit frustrating because I was struggling with a two-way miss. I could hit it left and right. If I have it going one way or the other, it's not so bad. You can kind of figure out a way how to play a golf course. I putted the same as I did at Augusta but this time they went in instead of lipping out.”

Phil Mickelson leads a group of four golfers, two shots back after shooting a 5-under 67.

He has three Top 10s in five attempts at the Quail Hollow Championship the best being a tie for third in 2007—the year Tiger won it.

Mickelson can take over the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking with a victory this week, if Tiger Woods finishes lower than fourth.

Woods has been No. 1 for 203 consecutive weeks and No. 1 for 545 weeks in his career.

Players Steve Marino, Jason Dufner and Robert Allenby are tied with Mickelson.

Marino is coming off a good week at the Zurich New Orleans where he had a chance to catch playing partner Jerry Kelly before his long drive on the 18th hole found one of Pete Dye’s cute pot bunkers just off the fairway.

Instead of a birdie he wound up with a bogey and finished in a tie for fifth. Dufner finished tied for ninth.

Allenby looks to start a new streak after missing the cut for the first time in 33 consecutive starts two weeks ago in his last tournament at the Verizon Heritage. Prior to last week his last missed cut was the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Tiger Woods was tied with Allenby and now holds the longest consecutive cuts made streak alone at 33, likely to be 34 this week.

Three-time PGA TOUR Champion Jeff Maggert, two-time U.S. Open Champion Retief Goosen, Ryder Cup Champion Hunter Mahan and 2005 Funai Classic at Walt Disney World Resort Champion Lucas Glover all shot 4-under par 68s.

Maggert who last won in 2006 and is using a one-time Top 50 PGA TOUR Career Money List exemption to play on tour this year has maintained a light hearted approach to his game. “I feel like I'm going to win every week, but I miss the cut every week.”

Feeling like he is playing pretty well he went on to clarify his situation in life and golf.

“I don't like to make excuses about getting old out here, but after 20 years of playing out here, it's probably more of a motivational thing and keeping yourself motivated, just a lot of stuff at home that's just kind of taking a bigger priority, I guess, in my life than playing golf sometimes. It's a lot of fun being at home and probably just haven't worked as hard as I needed to stay competitive out here. I just feel lucky that I've had a 20-year career out here and played well and still have opportunities to win tournaments at 45 years old. You can't beat that.”

What has been holding Maggert back golf wise?

“If there's one thing, I'd say it's been poor putting. The putter can just kill you on this TOUR if you're not making putts. You can strike the ball well week after week after week, but you've got to put the ball in the hole with the putter, and that's probably been the biggest struggle most of the year.”

Long hitter and nearby Greenville, SC resident Lucas Glover had a bogey-free, four-birdie 68. Does he prefer Quail Hollow with shorter rough than ever before?

“I don't prefer either way. I think I know what they were trying to do this week, which is get the ball to run more into the trees, more into the tree lines, and to me this golf course, the greens, are similar to Augusta, where the golf course really, really doesn't start until you get to the greens. They want the ball rolling down in those hollows and having these tough up-and-downs, which you're going to have. If you miss the fairway, you can't control your spin. But whereas in years past, deep rough, then you're chipping out and you can spin your wedge shot. I mean, it's give and take both ways. I'm not going to hit as many fairways, so it might be to my benefit, but I didn't mind it the other way, either.”

Bo Van Pelt shot a bogey-free three-birdie 3-under par 69 along with nine other golfers including impressive PGA TOUR rookie Jeff Klauk, 48-year-old Mark Calcavecchia and lefties Nick O’Hern and Steve Flesch.

Van Pelt shot a Sunday 66 to finish tied for eighth at the Transitions on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook then shot a Sunday 78 to finish in the T20 at the Shell Houston Open. He was more consistent at the narrow Harbour Towne Golf Links at the Verizon Heritage his last time out finishing in a tie for 13th.

“I think playing well, I played pretty well the last three events I've played in, and a lot can happen between now and Sunday. I'm just trying to shoot as low as I can. I think if I take care of my business, keep giving myself chances, it's going to happen. It's just a matter of when.”

Anthony Kim, the defending champion, shot a 2-under par 70 and sits in at T20. “I think it's going to be tough to top last year because it was my first, and it's been a dream of mine to play on the PGA TOUR and win out here. It was pretty special. But I'd love to do it again.”

“My goal is to look back on this year and say I put myself in that position twice as much as I did last year, and if I do that, I think I'm going to win. I just need to get there. I need to be patient. I need to relax and just let my golf clubs work because they're good enough, they just need to work, and I need to give it time.”

Kim is in better physical shape this year.

“I think towards the end of the year last year, even though I played pretty well, I finished third at BMW and third at the TOUR Championship, I was pretty worn down. I had played quite a few weeks in a row, and I think that just made it official that I was going to have a different workout program and really get after training my body to stay in shape throughout the year and not just for certain weeks and not just for two months at a time but for the whole year and really be able to work out in the offseason, as well.”

Masters Champion Angel Cabrera also shot a 2-under par 70 and is in T20 in his first tournament since his playoff victory over Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry. Campbell shot an even-par 72 in his first tournament back after the Masters.

Perry is not in the field this week.

Other notable first round scores—2005 Champion Vijay Singh shot 76, 2006 Champion Jin Furyk shot 71, defending PLAYERS Champion Sergio Garcia shot 71 despite a triple bogey seven on his ninth hole of the day the difficult par-4, 18^th hole and Todd Hamilton coming off two good weeks at the Masters and Verizon Heritage shot 78.

The tee times will flip flop from the morning to the afternoon and from the first to the 10th tee for the second round tomorrow. A cut will be made to the low 70 golfers and ties.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]