Woods Takes Irons a Bit Too Far

Tiger Woods found himself facing a strange situation during the first round of the Nissan Open Thursday at Riviera Country Club: He was hitting his irons too well.

Woods opened with a one-over 72 and is tied for 77th. He hit 13 greens in regulation but had only three birdie putts of 13 feet or shorter. He faced five that were more than 30 feet.

“I hit the ball really flush,” Woods said. “If you look at most of my iron shots, they were carrying a little bit long. It was hard to get the ball the correct distance because I was hitting it so flush.”

Woods said that was different from last week at Torrey Pines, where he hit several poor iron shots, and that the adjustment caused problems.

“It’s a little bit different when you just hit a little weak shot out there,” he said. “Today ... it was a little hard to gauge because of the way I was hitting it last week.”

If the cut had been Thursday, Woods would not have made it. As it is, he will have to pass seven players today to play the final two rounds.

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Scott Heyn, a Granada Hills resident and golf professional at Porter Valley Country Club, said that the early morning before his first round on the PGA Tour was a little nerve racking, but that he settled down once he’d arrived at the first tee and found a gallery of about two dozen relatives and friends.

“I didn’t have much of an appetite this morning,” Heyn said. “But it was nice to see a lot of friendly faces. That kind of calmed me down a little bit.”

Heyn earned a spot in the Nissan Open through Southern California PGA qualifying.

To play in the qualifier, Heyn crammed to finish his Class A PGA Professional requirements. He finished 10 days before the qualifier.

“My whole goal was to get it done before the qualifiers, and then to make one and it be in L.A. is a dream come true,” said Heyn, a graduate of Mission Hills Alemany High and Loyola Marymount. “This is unbelievable.”

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Duffy Waldorf found out Wednesday that he had walking pneumonia, but that didn’t keep him from playing Thursday.

“They didn’t say I can’t play,” Waldorf said. “Of course, I didn’t ask either.”

Still, Waldorf withdrew, citing back spasms after playing 11 holes. He said he first felt discomfort on his second hole, and it progressively got worse.

“It was really grabbing me when I was finishing my swing,” Waldorf said. “So it finished me for the week. I just didn’t feel like I was getting any better, and it was too much trouble to play my 36 holes and miss the cut, or worse yet, make the cut. I’ve never had a tournament like this, where right out of the box I was ready for it to end.”

Jeff Sluman also withdrew because of a bad back.

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Len Mattiace, who won the Nissan Open in 2002 and lost a playoff to Mike Weir in the Masters last year, is recovering from knee surgery and will be out until at least the Players Championship March 25.

Mattiace hurt his knee while skiing in Vail, Colo.

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Kevin Sutherland had one of the more interesting pars of the day.

On No. 6, the par-three with a sand trap in the middle of the green and the hole on the left, Sutherland hit his tee shot to the right side of the bunker.

He tried to putt around it but instead the ball went into the sand.

He then holed his shot out of the sand.

“My caddie said I was probably the only guy ever to make a par with a green in regulation and a sand save,” Sutherland said.

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How has Weir’s life changed since he won the Masters? He’s still left-handed and he’s still Canadian, but Weir’s newfound popularity has generated a new business, called Weir Golf Authentics and dealing in signed memorabilia.

Craig Weir, 40, is the main cog in his brother’s business. Craig Weir, who used to work for DuPont in Brights Grove, Ontario, says Mike Weir donates signed photographs to every charity that asks.

For the general public, as many as 25 pieces are available for sale, ranging from $199 to $800.

Seven years older than his brother, Craig says he knew early on that Mike was going to make something of himself on the course.

“Since he was 10 and started beating me and my friends,” he said.

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Woods was 8 the first time he saw the Los Angeles Open at Riviera, in 1984 when David Edwards won. Woods remembers standing by the pin at the back of the eighth hole and watching Tom Watson miss the green, the ball landing besides Woods’ foot.

That was also the first time Watson spoke to him, Woods said.

“He said, ‘Get out of the way, kid,’ and sort of brushed me aside.”

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Fashion update: Here’s the daily report on Jesper Parnevik: black turtleneck, blue and white argyle sweater, black slacks, black and white shoes, black cap.