Tree to Green, Woods Is Tops

By THOMAS BONK

Aug. 14, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

REDMOND, Wash. — So, where have you been, Tiger Woods?

Sure, you’ve had six top-four finishes this year, which is something a lot of guys would give up lob wedges for the rest of their lives to have. You’ve won a tournament and you finished third at the British Open last month, but what about the big thing . . . you know, that winning a major thing?

On opening day of the PGA Championship at tree-happy Sahalee Country Club, the course a logger could love, Woods carved out a course-record, four-under-par 66 and showed exactly where he’s been.

That would be knocking balls in the shadows of flagsticks, taking the lead of the year’s fourth and final major and, well, introducing us to some compelling new-age golf verbiage.

Listen up for Tigerspeak.

For instance, here’s Tigerspeak for putting well: “Controlling my rock.”

Hitting a good two-iron: “Absolutely rifled it.”

Hitting another good two-iron: “Absolutely flushed it.”

Not using his driver a single time: “A big doughnut.”

Being comfortable putting: “Let it go, let it flow.”

Let the record show that Woods controlled his rock, rifled and flushed it, didn’t need the doughnut driver and let it go until it flowed into a two-shot lead after Thursday’s sunny first round.

Woods birdied three of the first four holes on the back, shrugged off a three-putt bogey at No. 14, then rolled in a coast-to-coast 35-footer for a birdie at No. 17.

Afterward, Woods made a quick assessment of his first day at work here in the Pacific Northwest.

“A lot of rough, a lot of trees, but overall, I saw a lot of putts go in the hole,” he said.

That’ll work. There are only two par fives at Sahalee and Woods birdied them both, but he also played the four par-three holes in three under, which meant he was getting the ball close and he was making the putts.

At No. 5, he hit a six-iron to 15 feet and made it. On No. 13, he hit another six-iron to 18 feet and made that one too. On the 215-yard 17th, he was 35 feet from the hole after another six-iron, leaving him a downhill, left-to-right breaker.

What happened then, Tiger?

“It just kind of went in there,” he said.

Overall, there seemed to be no shortage of golf balls just kind of going into too many holes. There were 20 players who finished with scores in the 60s, which means Woods has many close pursuers. Eight of them, in fact.

Take a deep breath right here. Bob Estes, Glen Day, Bill Glasson, Paul Azinger, Shigeki Maruyama, Billy Andrade, Scott Gump and Frank Lickliter are only two shots back at two-under 68.

There were some pretty wild rides out there. Day birdied the first four holes, but played the last four holes in three over. Glasson had a wildly erratic back nine that featured three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey. Andrade birdied the first four holes, but double-bogeyed the sixth.

Masters and British Open champion Mark O’Meara began pursuit of his third major victory this year and is in a large group at 69.

O’Meara bogeyed two of the first three holes, but was proud he didn’t let it get to him.

“I kept myself in the ballgame,” he said. “I realize I didn’t shoot myself out of the tournament.”

No, but there are a few big names who might have come close. David Duval, Lee Janzen and Payne Stewart stumbled to six-over 76s, which means they’re 10 shots back after only one day. And Stuart Appleby, playing his first competitive round since the death of wife Renay in a London traffic accident last month, shot a distracted 77.

At Sahalee, the Land of the Big Timber, this isn’t too good of a place to be. Olin Browne discovered Sahalee’s bark is as bad as its bite when he knocked a ball into a tree on the eighth hole and it got stuck up there. A fan pulled off his shoes, scrambled up the tree and eventually identified Browne’s ball.

As for Woods, who broke the course-record 67 Jack Nicklaus set in a 1984 exhibition, he had no trouble identifying his golf ball, mainly because he kept pulling it out of the hole after making long putts. He counted six putts he made that were at least 15 feet in distance.

“As anyone knows who plays this game, putting comes in cycles,” he said. “You have to ride it when you have the highs and try to get all the slumps over as quick as possible.

“I haven’t really felt comfortable setting up over the ball in a while. And if you don’t feel comfortable, you’re not going to make a very good stroke.”

Woods is using a Ping putter he borrowed from O’Meara and it seems to be working fairly well right now. And on the tee, Woods said he probably has a big advantage because he can hit a two-iron or a three-wood, still get good distance and hopefully keep the ball on a line straighter than the players who must use a driver.

“I’m able to carry the ball out there and land it softer because I don’t have a club that’s real hot, like a driver, landing on the ground and running into the rough. I’ve always been a pretty good long-iron player.”

Especially when he’s absolutely rifling or flushing it.

MORE ZEST

Paul Azinger’s game appears healthy again. C6

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LEADERS

Tiger Woods: 34-32--66 -4

Bob Estes: 35-33--68 -2

Glen Day: 31-37--68 -2

Frank Lickliter: 34-34--68 -2

Paul Azinger: 35-33--68 -2

Bill Glasson: 32-36--68 -2

S. Maruyama: 34-34--68 -2