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FIRST rd Scores (US unless stated):
63 Troy Matteson 63.
64 Brian Harman, Jeff Overton, Robert Garrigus.
65 Tom Gillis, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind).
66 Tiger Woods, Jbe' Kruger (S Af), Danny Chia (Mas), Greg Chalmers, Ricky Barnes, JB Holmes.
67 Pat Perez, Kevin Stadler, Kevin Na.
68 Martin Laird (Scot), Jason Dufner, Ben Crane, Brendon de Jonge (Zim), David Lipsky.
69 Carl Pettersson (Swe), Chris Kirk, Bob Estes, Sean O'Hair, Kyle Stanley, Masanori Kobayashi (Jpn), Jimmy Walker, Charlie Wi (S Kor), Ryan Palmer.
70 Johnson Wagner, Prom Meesawat (Thai), Marcus Fraser, William McGirt, Bo Van Pelt, Scott Hend (Aus), John Huh, Bill Haas.
71 Anirban Lahiri (Ind), Nick Watney, Noh Seung-Yul (S Kor), Cameron Tringale.
72 John Senden, Trevor Immelman (SA), Thaworn Wiratchant (Thai).
73 Siddikur Rahman (Bang).
74 Shaaban Hussin (Mas).
75 Scott Piercy, Marc Leishman (Aus).
TROY Matteson of the United States produced a magical eight-under-par 63, after hitting four closing birdies as he put the shade on Tiger Woods in the first round of the US$6.1 CIMB Classic yesterday.
Matteson looked like he enjoyed the steamy conditions at the Mines Resort and Golf Club to lead by one stroke from countrymen Brian Harman, Robert Garrigus and Jeff Overton, who finished runner-up here last year.
Indian Gaganjeet Bhullar, who has won twice on the Asian Tour in the past two months, was a further stroke back with American Tom Gillis while 14-time Major champion Woods, Malaysia’s Danny Chia and Jbe Kruger of South Africa were amongst those in tied seventh place on 66.
Two-time PGA Tour winner Matteson, making his debut at the CIMB Classic, was flawless and closed out his round in style with a birdie from the greenside bunker, calling it a 'slam dunk'.
“The pin is really tricky on 18. I thought I hit a pretty good shot in there, and it just barely landed over the bunker and trickled back in the bunker, left me on the upslope. I knew I'd be doing good if I could leave myself seven or eight feet for par, and it bounced and slam dunked in the hole,” he said.
“The course is great. The grass is a lot like what I play back home. You've got to play your way around here. You can't just hit driver on every hole, you've got to make some decisions, you've got to hit some irons, you've got to hit some 3 woods,” added Matteson.
Overton, who shot a course record 62 at the Mines Resort last year, was four-under through 14 holes before holing a 20-foot eagle on 15. “I got to play with Danny Chia and he was making birdies and we were just both kind of going back and forth. And then all of a sudden I made the eagle, basically drove the green on the short par four, and when that sucker went in, it was really exciting. It was just an all-around fun day,” said Overton.
Garrigus, a winner on the PGA Tour, turned in 30 and hit a splendid eagle three on the 11th hole when his four iron approach from 258 yards landed three feet from the hole. “Gosh, that was probably one of the prettiest four irons I've ever hit in my life,” he said.
“I just smoked the four iron, hit it to three feet, made eagle, then made a great par save on the next hole. I think those three holes really kept the round going, then birdied a couple coming in.”
Defending champion Bo Van Pelt shot a 70 to lie in tied 30th place.
TIGER Woods was cool on the front-nine, and then unleashed a string of birdies on his return to be five-under 66 with five other players at the Mines Resort and Golf Club yesterday.
Wearing a blue T-shirt, Woods was constantly seen wiping his sweat before making a putt. And the large crowd never stopped shouting encouragement after every hole.
“I would love to hop into an ice tub right now,” said a sweaty Woods, who is returning to Malaysia for the first time since his triumph in the World Cup of Golf in 1999.
“I felt in control on the back nine. Towards the end of the front nine, I was hitting it really well. Just missed a couple of short putts on eight and nine but I was hitting it really well. Just continued it and it felt really good on the back nine. I hit some really good shots.
“Turning at even par, I felt like I just got run over there. It felt like I had to shoot something at least three , four under par on that back nine, and I happened to get one more, which is nice. It's going to take something like 20-plus to win the tournament, so got to be aggressive and go get it.”
Woods, the tournament’s top draw, lit up his back nine with five birdies to end the day three behind the leader. He struggled with a cold putter on his outward nine, missing two short putts on eight and nine to turn in level par before lighting up his inward stretch with five birdies.
By Jugjet Singh
TIGER Woods made a return to the Mines Resort and Golf Club after 13 years, and the euphoria was not only evident among the fans, but also the other top golfers who are eager walk the same fairways with him.
It was 1999 when the young Tiger first came to Malaysia and partnered Mark O'Meara to hand the United States the World title by five strokes at the Mines.
"It is wonderful to be back at the Mines after 13 years, and after playing in the pro-am, I can say that the course looks just the same. Back then, to be able to hold off the Spaniards and win the World Cup just brought back some good old memories," said the CIMB Classic tournament favourite.
Tiger played with Prime Minister Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak in the morning pr-am.
The Third Edition of the tournament, which offers a total of US6.1 million purse with the winner taking home a cool US1.3 million, will also see the last year's winner Bo Van Pelt and inaugural champion Ben Crane battling the Tiger.
Tiger also loved the weather yesterday, as well as the golf course: "It is not cold outside! So it will be a nice test this week as the golf course is in great shape, even though its got a lot of rain on it.
"Its soft, and has a few mud balls out there but overall, its in pretty good shape," said Tiger.
The once World No 1 is just as eager to meet his fans in Asia, as they are of meeting him.
"Some people probably sometimes forget that my mom was born here in Asia and it does feel like home because I'm very used to the culture. It's how I was raised at home and I've enjoyed my time throughout the years that I've spent here in Asia.
"So I always appreciate the fans coming out and supporting the events and supporting me, as I'm finishing my 17th year on the Tour and so its nice to have that kind of support all those years," said Tiger.
Tiger also touched on the Lance Armstrong doping scandal that has hit cycling badly: "Golf has implemented testing about three years ago but we do not do some blood work like some of the other sports do as tests are on urine sample right now.
"But its certainly a positive step in the right direction to try and validate our sport.
"I mean its a sport where we turn ourselves in on mistakes as when the ball moves in the trees and the guy calls a penalty on himself so golf is a different sport.
"I think its one of the neat things about our great game and the testing has only enhanced that respectability," said Tiger.
All eyes will be on the 'Asian' when he starts his first day in office at the Mines with Australian Marcus Fraser at 11.40am from the first tee.
