Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on No. 9 at Pebble Beach, with Carmel Beach in the background.
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Woods' 65 was the lowest score in any Open at Pebble Beach. It was the lowest in relation to par in the first round of the Open since 1992.
Corey Pavin was 3-under after 13 holes when play stopped Thursday. If he stays there, it will mark the first time since his closing-round 68 to win the 1995 Open at Shinnecock Hills, that he's broken par -- a streak of 12 consecutive Open rounds.
Jake Reeves, who made an early splash with a birdie-birdie start, is the cousin of Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Reeves. He plays on the Hooters Tour.
The toughest hole Thursday? No. 5, being used in the Open for the first time. Players were nearly a half-shot over par as a group.
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Pebble giveth ... and taketh away
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- As Nuke LaLoosh so aptly noted: Announce your presence with authority. Hal Sutton took him up on it.
Sutton let Pebble Beach know who was boss early Thursday, with an eagle and a birdie on the first two holes. And it would have been two eagles if the second hole was still a par-5.
Sutton holed a 136-yard eight iron on the first -- the first time No. 1 had been eagled in four U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach. At the second, he hit a 5-iron second shot to within three feet and made the putt.
"I was fortunate to get off to that start," he said. Sutton got to 5-under after seven holes and 6-under after 13.
But Pebble Beach got even. It always does.
Sutton played the final five holes in 4-over to finish at 2-under 69 in the first round.
He hit his third shot over the green on the par-5 14th and took four shots from there. He bogeyed the 16th and then, battling the fog on 18, he hit his tee shot in the rough and took another bogey.
"I had to take a lot of medicine coming in," Sutton said.
Of course, the sugar of the first two holes made it go down a little easier.
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Time is on your side, part II: We said Wednesday that the USGA was concerned about slow play. What it didn't take into account was course difficulty. So, thanks to a four-group backup that developed at the par-3 fifth hole, starting times for all groups teeing off after 12:20 p.m. PT (17 in all) were moved back a half-hour.
Been there, done that: John Daly was hitting his seventh shot off the 18th tee, thanks to a push out of bounds and two hooks into the ocean. He used a 5-iron and wound up taking 14. He later withdrew.
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OVERHEARD
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MICKELSON
On the dangers of Pebble Beach, with an eye on history: "As you saw in '92 with Gil Morgan, when you slip, you can slip a lot." |
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WOODS
On playing partner Jesper Parnevik's orange shirt: "You could see him in the fog, that's for sure. He's our beacon, so no one would hit us." |
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MEDIATE
On how the USGA will react to Woods' 65: "If the conditions keep getting tough, it will get to the point that if you shoot 70, you're playing your butt off." |
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JIMENEZ
On all the attention Woods gets: "The press thinks there's only one player here at the tournament. No, there's 156 players." |
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