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Tiger’s Test at Dubai, Day One

by Jeff Skinner

Tiger Woods failed to keep up with his playing partners during their first round at The Omega Dubai Classic.  The “Great Triumvirate” of Westwood, Kaymer and Woods didn’t dazzle the crowd, but two of them, Westwood and Kaymer, were good enough to finish only three strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy.  Woods struggled to a one under 71 and is six back of McIlroy.

Tiger went out in two over par 37 but found his putting stroke after he made the turn.  He birdied three of the first four holes on the back nine but also suffered a double bogey on the twelfth.  “It was scratchy,” Woods said.”I started off putting awful and then did not miss a putt after that when giving myself a reasonable distance.  I struggled with my trajectory control, with wind like this you have to hit the right trajectory and I did not do that today.”

So Tiger was at best “scratchy” as he calls it, until he got to the par five eighteenth hole.  He absolutely killed a three wood from 254 yards and stuck it to four feet.  His finishing eagle gave the crowd that had followed this group a little bit of the Tiger they had come to see and salvaged his round.

Unfortunately, earlier they got to see the Tiger that can’t control his temper.  On the eighth tee he launched a trio of F-words, with two children no older than 10 within five yards. (From the Independent).

Tiger was the Tiger we have seen for the last year, inconsistent.  He has three rounds to find his stride or he could slide even further away from the best players in the world.

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