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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, March 13, 2009

Tiger stuck in middle with 71

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Tiger Woods

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DORAL, Fla. — Tiger Woods returned to stroke play for the first time since winning the U.S. Open, and so much of it felt familiar except for the leaderboard at Doral.

His name was nowhere to be found yesterday at the CA Championship.

His wife, Elin, walked the back nine a month after giving birth to their son. It was her first time watching Woods play since Torrey Pines. Woods found himself more concerned with posting a score than beating one player, as was the case in match play two weeks ago.

The crowd was large, as usual for the Blue Monster, but shouts of "Welcome back!" were replaced by "Vamos, Tigre!"

But as players from all around the globe kept pouring in birdies — relative unknown players like Prayad Marksaeng and Jeev Milka Singh, followed by the familiar name of Phil Mickelson — Woods was stuck in the middle of the pack of an 80-man field.

Mickelson chipped in three times, twice while finishing with three straight birdies, on his way to a 7-under 65 that gave him a four-way share of the lead with Retief Goosen, Marksaeng and Singh.

Woods made only three birdies — two of them on par 5s — and had to settle for a 71 that put him in a tie for 40th.

"I need to be a touch sharper," said Woods, who has never finished out of the top 10 at Doral. "It was not like I was playing poorly and shot 71. I played well and just didn't make any putts."