Geez Tiger, What Was That?

Tiger Woods stood over what looked like a routine bunker shot at the 16th green as he neared the end of his first round at the Buick Open Thursday.

For Tiger, it should have been a easy up-and-down, as it usually is. 

Quicker than you could say Turnberry, he hit it a little too close to the ball and found himself 13 feet away.

"That stunk!" CBS announcer Gary McCord said without hesitation. "It had smelly all over it."

Thus it was for Tiger's first-day effort.

He managed a 1-under 71 which left him tied for 95th in the field.

His putter was the main culprit. At 17, a par three, Tiger's tee shot landed about five feet from the hole. Typical Tiger crowd roar, typical expectation of easy birdie.

Not this time. Woods hit a power pull that completely missed the hole and left him four-feet coming back for his par. Made it, then parred 18.

Tiger's performance was about as strong as the Detroit economy.

His putter was totally out of whack. 32 putts later, he ranked 130th in the field with the flat stick.

His nines were 37-34. Ugh.

No excuses on this day. There was no wind, no pot bunkers, no gorse.

Still, it looked like a bit of a British hangover.

Good news is that the last time Woods shot 71 in this event, he went out and shot 61 the next day. That still stands as the course record.

Bad news is that he's a mere nine shots behind leader Steve Lowery's 63.

This is one of those events where they go low, real low.

Tiger will need to get a move-on Friday to stay in touch with the leaders.

No big deal though. This is the first of Tiger's two-part warm-up for the PGA Championship. It's the first of three-straight events for the world's No. 1.

Don't worry Tiger, you have seven more rounds to work this out.

Seven rounds, providing you make the cut on Friday.