ESPN Golf Online news services
Thursday, December 7

BELLA VISTA, Argentina -- David Duval carried Tiger Woods, while Argentina and New Zealand topped the leaderboard Thursday in the first round of the World Cup of Golf.

	Tiger Woods battled his control and some rowdy crowds on Thursday.

"I was a jockey. I just rode my horse all day," said Woods, who combined with Duval for an 11-under 61 in the opening best-ball round. "I didn't really strike the ball as good as I like, and I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be."

Thousands of spectators followed Woods and Duval, who played alongside Argentina's Eduardo Romero and Angel Cabrera on the Buenos Aires Golf Club course.

Duval, who only a day earlier had answered questions about how he felt being the side act to the Tiger show, essentially shouldered the American team, the defending champion in search of its sixth title in the last decade and 22nd overall.

"We didn't play, either one of us, as well as we would have cared to," Duval said. "But at least we stayed close, and so we have a chance."

Duval and Woods finished the day tied for fifth, four strokes behind Romero and Cabrera and New Zealand's Frank Nobilo and Greg Turner. The 24 teams will play an alternate-shot round Friday, followed by another best-ball round Saturday, and a second alternate-shot round Sunday.

Australia's Peter O'Malley and Lucas Parsons shot a 58, Japan's Shigeki Maruyama and Hidemichi Tanaka opened with a 60, and Canada's Mike Weir and Glen Hnatiuk and South Korea's Choi Kwang-soo and Park Nam-sin joined Woods and Duval at 61.

But it was the play of host Argentina that held the attention most of the day. The Argentine tandem quietly ascended the leaderboard throughout the day on the strength of Romero's 10 birdies. He had six on the last nine holes.

Romero admitted the spotlight was mostly on Woods.

"We knew how to manage the pressure that playing against the United States meant. We knew that at some point we would have to take them on and we were prepared for that," Romero said.

More than 5,000 fans were awaiting Woods when he teed off.

One of them yelled "Vamos, Tiger!" ("Come on, Tiger!") after his tee shot, and Woods complained of crowd noise before his second shot.

On the sixth hole, play was delayed for several minutes while course officials cleared the fairway of enthusiastic fans.

Popularity didn't translate into success for Woods, who made only two birdies.

"I didn't really hit the ball as good as I would have liked, but I hit it close enough where I had some putts," he said. "And I hit a lot of good putts on the front nine that just didn't go in. They were just hanging on the lip."

Woods' frustrations crested on the back nine.

On an approach shot on the 12th hole, he hit into the water. Luckily for Woods, Duval sank a short putt for birdie. A few holes later, Woods' putt for eagle veered wide. On the 16th, he missed another birdie attempt, his face twisted in frustration.

Asked if the 12-hour flight from California might have had taken a toll on his play, Woods said: "Don't confuse tired with being a little disappointed and angry."

Last year, Woods and Mark O'Meara teamed for a five-stroke victory over Spain in Malaysia. Woods won the individual title by nine strokes with a 21-under 263 total, both tournament records. The individual portion of the tournament has been eliminated.