You know that consistency Tiger Woods talks so much about? Well, despite hitting six of seven fairways and seven of nine greens on his outgoing nine in Thursday's first round of the Greenbrier Classic, Woods made the turn at 1-over, thanks to some truly inconsistent putting.
After rinsing his tee shot in a water hazard to the right on the par-5 17, Woods blew a two-footer for bogey, which had one wondering if his college roommate and new putting guru, Notah Begay, was anywhere on site for a quick tune-up. Woods, who missed a seven-foot putt for birdie on 18, began his round with birdies on Nos. 11 and 12, but dropped a shot with a bogey on the par-4 13th at The Old White TPC in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Then came the 17th and a nasty double bogey.
With a birdie on the par-4 first to start his back nine, Woods may have conjured up the advice Begay gave him prior to last week's win at the AT&T National.
As Woods noted on his website on Tuesday, Begay suggested Woods open the toe of the putter on the back stroke to fight his tendency to bring the putter head "too far inside" on his take-away.
"[Begay] made me think back to some of the things I used to think about in college and how I told him how to putt," Woods told reporters at a Tuesday press conference. "He said, ‘you might want to go back to that.' I did and I putted pretty good."
Woods made every putt within 10 feet last week at Congressional Country Club but some ragged putting to start his first Greenbrier Classic outing required 18 putts in just nine holes. With much golf left to play, Woods was even-par through 10 -- five shots back of early leaders Jeff Maggert and Andres Romero.