It used to exasperate Steve Williams that Tiger Woods chipped spectacularly from difficult lies only to often flub the straightforward ones.
I thought of Woods’ estranged caddie on the very first hole at Quail Hollow on a hot and steamy Thursday afternoon, where Woods faced a relatively innocuous shot from 15 feet on the fringe.
He elected to chip, even though he could've easily putted.
He probably wished he had putted, because he managed to hit the chip so fat it only got halfway to the hole.
"I didn’t want to hit it past the hole and run it back down that hill," he said later.
"Obviously, I flubbed it."
It's strange — if not unsettling — to hear Tiger Woods, winner of 14 majors and 72 PGA tour events, talk about the fear of hitting a chip "back down that hill" as if he were a 15 handicapper.
Woods would miss the putt.
The most absurd of bogeys ensured that once again he got off to a bad start, as was his wont at the Masters, where he finished tied for 40th, his worst-ever finish at Augusta National.
Woods was later asked what he needed to do after three weeks off.
"Get off to a positive start," he said.
"And I bogeyed the first hole right out of the gate, so there goes that idea."
Woods bounced back by sinking a 25-footer down the hill at the par-three second, but it didn't really kick-start anything.
He seemed rusty, and his mistakes were costly.
Each of his three bogeys came from failing to get up-and-down; he also barely hit the putting surface after driving it 50 yards short of the eighth green, and twice had to settle for par on par fives after indifferent chip shots.
His one-under par round 71 at the Wells Fargo Championship could’ve easily been something in the 60s, a score he hasn't recorded now in seven consecutive rounds.
"I made too many mistakes on the front nine," he said.
"I didn’t take care of the par fives. I had an easy up-and-in at 8, which I messed up there. Three or four shots and I’m right there. I’ve got to obviously not make those little mistakes like that tomorrow."
His playing partner, Webb Simpson, who lives a mile away from the course, made a few mistakes, too, but the difference was that he found a way to avoid paying the price for them.
"He holed out once (for eagle, on the eighth) and he made an unbelievable par over there on four (after having to punch out from the trees)," said Woods. "Hit just an unreal shot."
Simpson rolled in a series of long putts in the round, none more impressive than the 60-footer on the 12th. He plays Quail Hollow often and later said he knew "I was dead where I was."
But the putt went in.
"Webby did a good job of making 70-footers and I think he only had three putts over 30 feet today, so he did alright," Woods said, rolling his eyes.
Simpson said he was very apprehensive beforehand, playing in front of friends and family while alongside Woods.
"I was just nervous, man," he said.
"I’ve got a nervous personality. I just needed to calm down a little bit."
Two birdies in the first three holes — then the otherworldly par save on the fourth — seemed just the tonic.
Simpson said he had only once before played with Woods. In the last round of this year’s Cadillac Championships, at Doral, when Woods’ achilles tendon flared up, causing him to pull out during the round.
"I accidentally kicked him in the leg and he withdrew," Simpson joked.
"We went from 10,000 people (in the gallery) every hole to zero people."
If he keeps playing like this, that won't be a problem.
Woods, meanwhile, like Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood — who both also shot 71 — and Rory McIlroy, who did one better, knows that they can't afford to fall too far behind.
Quail Hollow's a tough course, but with little rough, wind and hot temperatures — and rain in the forecast — it will turn into a birdie festival.
"It's still within reach," said Woods.
"We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re going to have to go get it. The scores are going to be a lot lower."
