Stricker nearly lives up to Tiger’s worst fears

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This article was published 05/09/2009 (6232 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NORTON, Mass. — Steve Stricker birdied his first two holes, and Tiger Woods could see what was coming. Walking to the next tee Friday at the TPC Boston, Woods said to his caddie, “He’s going to shoot 62.”

Woods’ instincts were off by one. Stricker shot 63.

With superb command of his driver and his typical dose of great putting, Stricker ran off five straight birdies and only once came close to a bogey to share the first-round lead with Jim Furyk in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Furyk, without a victory in more than two years, shot his 8-under 63 in the afternoon. He had five birdies in his opening six holes, settled in for a diet of pars, then closed with consecutive birdies for his lowest round of the year.

They were two shots clear of a group that included Masters champion Angel Cabrera, Justin Leonard, Retief Goosen and Scott Verplank, who had dinner with Stricker on Thursday night and had a minor bout of food poisoning.

Stricker felt fine, and looked even better.

“To get off to a birdie-birdie start just kind of got the day started in the right direction,” Stricker said.

Calgary’s Stephen Ames sits at 4 under, tied for 13th. Bright’s Grove, Ont., native Mike Weir sits tied for 24th, a stroke back at 3 under.

In a reversal, it was Woods who had the best seat for a great round. The world’s No. 1 player hit ordinary shots to the green, hit one tee shot into the bushes for a penalty shot and failed to convert five birdie chances he had inside 12 feet. He wound up with a 70.

“I didn’t really do much of anything positive today,” Woods said. “I didn’t feel good over any shot today. Didn’t drive it very good, hit my irons worse and didn’t make any putts. Other than that, it was a good day.”

The PGA Tour Playoffs seem to bring out the best in Stricker. This was the 26th time in 37 rounds during the FedEx Cup playoffs that he shot in the 60s, and this one included a pair of birdie putts inside seven feet that he missed.

At the middle of his round, however, everything was perfect.

“It was unbelievable,” Woods said. “He made one mistake there at No. 7, but other than that, you’d be hard-pressed to find a shot that he hit off-line.”

First came a wedge that spun back to four feet on the par-5 18th, followed by a 15-foot birdie on the first hole, then another wedge to a par-5 that stopped four feet away. The pin on the par-3 third hole is hidden behind a bunker, yet it was clear from the loud cheer that Stricker had hit another one stiff.

Woods hit his shot at No. 3 into about 10 feet, then flicked his broken tee at Stricker’s elbow.

Like that was going to stop him.

Stricker found his ball a foot from the cup for a tap-in birdie, and finished off his birdie streak with a drive on the 294-yard fourth hole that just went over the back of the green. Having practised that putt up the slope on Thursday, knowing it was slow up to the green, he rapped it to three feet.

The only finish that matters to Furyk is on Labour Day when the tournament hands out a trophy. He has not won since the Canadian Open two years ago, and it gnaws at him. Once No. 2 in the world, he has fallen to No. 13 in the ranking.

— The Associated Press