Golf in these times: California

NASSAU, Bahamas — The bad news for Tiger Woods after Thursday’s first round of his Hero World Challenge? He failed to take advantage of a terrific day off the tee, posting a 1-over 73 that has him near the bottom of the 18-man leaderboard. The good news? The cold he’s been battling since last week’s match in Las Vegas against Phil Mickelson is subsiding. “At least I’m just not coughing anymore — which is nice,� Woods said Thursday. Getting back to full strength may be a lot easier that getting back into contention in the next three days. Woods finds himself eight strokes off the lead shared by Patrick Reed and Patrick Cantlay and will be in the first twosome (with Hideki Matsuyama) out in Friday’s second round at 11:15 a.m. ET. Matsuyama is last in the field at 2 over, with Woods and Xander Schauffele tied for 16th at 1 over. On Thursday, it was a day of wasted opportunities for Tiger, especially with the way he was hitting his driver. He missed just one of 13 fairways but his iron play was not crisp, and his short game also was lacking. He bogeyed two of his first five holes, bounced back with consecutive birdies, but then suffered a triple-bogey at the par-3 12th. A poor chip shot from near the water hazard on his second shot came up short, rolled back down a hill and into the water. “I had a little patch right behind the golf ball and I tried to toe it in there in trying to make sure I actually hit it long,� Tiger explained. “I was trying to play for like a 10-12 footer coming back and it just didn’t come out and it blew back in the hazard. “I didn’t quite feel comfortable with my game today even though I drove it great. It was definitely reflective in my scoring today. I didn’t quite feel comfortable and just didn’t quite hit the ball close enough or give myself a lot of looks at it.� While unhappy with his score, perhaps the best news for Woods is that the focus this week is on his game and not simply his return to action. It was a year ago that he first began his latest comeback after multiple back surgeries. He was just glad to be on the course that day — and he took time on Thursday to reflect on the last 12 months and how far he has come. “Yeah, there have been a lot of thoughts of that, not just today but this entire week of where I started at last year coming into this event and looking at how the year’s panned out,� Woods said. “It’s been pretty amazing.� Now if he can just get past the cold. “I just don’t have the same energy,� he said. “That’s just from being under the weather like I have been. I’ve just been rundown and I’m tired and been trying to catch up with it. “I’m feeling a lot better today, for sure. It’s been a long last week or so. At least this tournament’s now started and we’ve got it underway. Now I’m back into the rhythm of playing again, which is nice.�

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MELBOURNE, Australia – The International Team holds a 4-1 advantage over the U.S. Team after Day 1 Four-Ball matches at the Presidents Cup. It’s the largest International lead after the first session in Presidents Cup history and the first time since 2003 that the U.S. has scored one or fewer points in a session.  The five Foursomes matches for Day 2 are now set, with International Captain Ernie Els and U.S. Captain Tiger Woods unveiling their partnerships at Royal Melbourne. PRESIDENTS CUP: Scoring | Data-driven Els | What will Tiger be like as captain? | Inside Internationals’ win in 1998 | Quiz: Who should you cheer for? Here’s a look at each match.  MATCH 1 LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN/ADAM SCOTT (INTERNATIONAL) vs. DUSTIN JOHNSON/MATT KUCHAR (USA) MATCH 2 ADAM HADWIN/ JOAQUIN NIEMANN (INTERNATIONAL) vs. XANDER SCHAUFFELE/PATRICK CANTLAY (USA) MATCH 3 MARC LEISHMAN/ABRAHAM ANCER (INTERNATIONAL) vs. WEBB SIMPSON/PATRICK REED (USA) MATCH 4 BYEONG HUN AN/HIDEKI MATSUYAMA (INTERNATIONAL) vs. JUSTIN THOMAS/TIGER WOODS (USA) MATCH 5 SUNGJAE IM/CAMERON SMITH (INTERNATIONAL) vs. GARY WOODLAND/RICKIE FOWLER (USA)

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LAS VEGAS — Tom Hoge wanted to be sure to take advantage of pristine conditions Thursday morning in Las Vegas. He did more than he expected, making two eagles on his way to an 8-under 63 for a one-shot lead in the Shriners Children’s Open. One of the eagles came with a gap wedge in his hand, part of a six-hole stretch he played in 6-under par in the middle of his round at the TPC Summerlin. The other eagle was a 35-foot putt down the hill on the par-5 16th. Equally important, Hoge kept bogeys off his card. Presidents Cup partners Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim ganged up on Max Homa in a group that brought back memories and stories from Quail Hollow two weeks ago. Si Woo Kim had a 64 and was tied for second with Maverick McNealy, while Tom Kim had a 65 and Homa didn’t fare too badly with a 67. Homa went 4-0 in his Presidents Cup debut, beating Tom Kim in singles. But it was Tom Kim who delivered the best moment when he made a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, slamming his cap to the ground to celebrate a win with Si Woo Kim as his partner. “We still talk about the Presidents Cup, like some holes,” Si Woo Kim said. “Then I finish the hole, and Tom came over on 18 and I said, ‘If you make that one, I got to ask you to go throw the hat like the last hole Saturday.’” McNealy now lives in Las Vegas and had more support than usual for a Thursday morning, a gallery he figures will grow on the weekend if he keeps this up. Defending champion Sungjae Im joined Tom Kim in the large group at 65, particularly impressive because he played in the afternoon when low scores were harder to find. Patrick Cantlay, who has a win and two runner-up finishes in his four appearances at TPC Summerlin, had a steady diet of birdie chances from the 15- to 20-foot range and had to settle for a 67. The low round for Hoge was unexpected because he had been fishing off the coast of Mexico the last two weeks, wanting to put the golf clubs away after a long season. He was in the mix for a Presidents Cup pick, though the oversight was not a surprise because he hadn’t played well enough since his inaugural PGA TOUR victory at Pebble Beach in early February. “I didn’t know where things would stand coming out today,” Hoge said. He holed a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 6, then hit a gap wedge from 110 yards on No. 7 that hit the middle of the pin and crashed into the left side of the cup for eagle. He followed with three more birdies over the next four holes, and then picked up a bonus with fast eagle putt on the 16th. “It was an interesting day,” Hoge said. “I feel like I missed some very makeable birdie putts, but I holed some real nice, long ones for eagle on 16 and some other long ones. Certainly happy with the score, but I’ve got to make a lot of birdies the next few days.”

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