Woods can't find a birdie

The inconceivable became reality in Jacksonville, Florida yesterday as Tiger

Woods played 18 holes at the Players Championship

without registering a single birdie.

Never before in 41 rounds at

Sawgrass, stretching back to when

he turned pro in 1997, had he suffered

such a fate. Just to complete

his day he signed for a 75, which

tied his worst-ever Players score.

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At the Wachovia Championship

last week, Woods was worried

about his knee. Whisper it softly,

but here at Sawgrass it might be

his achilles heel.

On no other

course he plays regularly has he

enjoyed so little success, with just

one victory in 2001 and no top 10

finishes in his last five starts.

Now this — and he will certainly

have to go some to get back into

contention after giving his great

rival Phil Mickelson an eight-shot

head start.

On a brutal, exciting first day with

winds gusting at up to 30mph, the

67s posted by the left-hander and

in-form Rory Sabbatini were truly

notable.

Mickelson, third in his last two

events since switching to Woods’s

old coach Butch Harmon in an

effort to find more accuracy with his driving, was much encouraged by

his control in the devious gusts.

It

never hurts, either, when you need

just 12 putts to cover the back nine.

As for Sabbatini, his performance

must have induced a round of onehanded

clapping in the locker

room. In a recent Sports Illustrated

survey, the brash South African

was a runaway winner among his

peers for the award of player they

least like to be drawn alongside.

Elsewhere, there was carnage,

with Woods simply the most highprofile

casualty. The infamous 17th

hole, in particular, wreaked havoc

from the moment the first player

attempted it. Unfortunately, from a

British point of view, the player in

question was Paul Casey.

Having started at the 10th, he

stepped on to the tee two under

par and joint leader. Ten minutes

later, he walked to the 18th tee

having tumbled all the way down to

38th place.

That’s the island green 17th for

you. Some, like Woods, consider it

gimmicky but there’s no denying it

provides more drama than any

other hole in the game.

Thousands

gather there for the same reason

that people used to gather for a

lynching. Certainly, poor Casey felt

flayed after his triple-bogey six,

which included one visit to the

water and a three-putt.

He was

never the same thereafter and

concluded with a 76. To his credit

he took his punishment, and

disagreed with Woods about the

hole’s merit.

"This is one of the

world’s great courses and it is not

let down by the 17th," he said.

Luke Donald was another to find

the water at the 17th on his way to

a 74, while Ian Poulter shot 75.

David Howell, who had not been

able to hit a shot in practice owing

to a bad back, withdrew after just

two holes. Darren Clarke, troubled

by a hamstring damaged while

playing football with his kids,

lasted only four more.

Amid all this home gloom, the

performance of the personable

Londoner, Brian Davis, provided

welcome respite. He shot 71, and

thereby hangs a nice tale.

Davis has been struggling all year

with his putting. In search of a cure

he rang his friend Gary Evans, who

retired from the game last year.

Evans recalled: "The first thing he

said down the phone on Friday was

'Help.' He said he was so

desperate he was wondering if

there was any chance of me getting

on a plane. So I arrived here on

Monday and we worked on his posture

and stroke on Tuesday and

Wednesday."

The Evans magic worked so well

early on that Davis single-putted

the first six greens. At the ninth,

Evans had to leave to catch a plane

back home. Rather spookily, the

moment he left Davis had his first

three-putt, and followed it up by

missing a couple of tiddlers early in

the back nine.

"The head was off at

that point," Davis admitted.

Thankfully, he rallied, birdieing

the 16th, holing a good par putt at

the 17th, before a real bonus at the

dangerous 18th.

This long par-four, with water

down the left, was playing right into

the teeth of the wind, and Davis

was exactly where you shouldn’t be

after two blows, in the hills to the

right of the green, with seemingly

no obvious recovery shot. From his

lop-sided stance, however, he

miraculously chipped in.

"Let’s hope that’s the start of a

change of luck," he said. "I might

have missed a couple of short putts

but that’s the first round all year

that I have holed my share, and it’s

thanks to Gary."

The last time Evans helped Davis

with his putting, he won the 2004

ANZ Championship.

After making

less than £35,000 so far this year to

stand 180th in the money list, he

would settle simply for a top 10 in

this cash-laden event to get his

season up and running.