The Daily Wrap-up: Round 1, Buick Open
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Michigan (AP) -- Tiger Woods continued at the Buick Open where he left off from the British Open in shooting a 1-under 71 on Thursday.
He finished the first round tied for 128th on putts inside 10 feet and eight shots behind leader Steve Lowery.
"Probably one of the worst putting days I've ever had," Woods said. "It was just terrible."
Two weeks ago in the British Open, Woods was 7 over during a six-hole span and ended up missing a cut for the first time in three years.
If Woods fails to break 70 in the second round on Friday, he will put himself in danger of missing cuts in consecutive tournaments for the first time as a pro.
It's too early, though, to count him out for the weekend at Warwick Hills even though the cut is usually 3 or 4 under. He opened the 2005 Buick Open with a 71, bounced back with a course-record tying 61 and finished tied for second.
"I not only have to play well to make the cut, I got to play well to get myself back in contention," said the two-time Buick Open champion, whose worst finish in eight previous stops here was a tie for 11th. "Guys are going to continue to go low. That's the way the golf course is playing right now.
"It's going to be 20-plus to win."
It usually is.
The average winning score has been almost 21 under par since 2000 at Warwick Hills, one of the easiest courses on the U.S. PGA Tour.
Lowery took advantage of perfect conditions -- smooth, receptive greens and calm winds -- in the morning by tying a course record with a 29 on the front nine and finishing 9-under 63.
John Senden also did, making five straight birdies in the morning and finishing with nine to end up only a shot off the lead.
Y.E. Yang, James Nitties, Vaughn Taylor, Brian Vranesh were two strokes back with 65s.
The 48-year-old Lowery hasn't finished better than 24th this year. He won at Pebble Beach last year, earning a third victory on the tour and his first since 2000.
Lowery has an 18-hole lead for the 19th time and is hoping to turn that tenuous position at the Buick Open into a title for just the second time in his career.
"It looks like the weather is going to be pretty mild this week, so my (prediction to win) was 24 under," Lowery said. "Obviously 9 under is a great start, but if you don't follow it up the rest of the week, it ain't going to hang around.
"You got to get it done for the last three days."
Woods didn't see his awful performance coming.
He was pleased with his practice sessions following his flop at the British Open and had five birdies on the front nine during Wednesday's pro-am.
Woods was accurate off the tee early, missing only one fairway before making the turn, and his approach shots were solid. But his putter let him down.
Woods three-putted from 12 feet on his second hole for bogey and missed a 6-foot par putt on 5, leading to a a big sigh and slumped shoulders. He pulled makable putts at 15 and 17.
Woods did make a clutch putt from 20-plus feet to save par at No. 4, but the result was the only thing he liked.
"I actually pulled it," he said. "I hit a bad putt there, went in. I hit a really good putt at 15, hit something and went left.
"It's just one of those days. One of those weird days."
| Other notables at the Buick Open | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Thursday's best |
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The par-5 16th hole was the easiest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.432.
The par-4 18th hole was the toughest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.148.
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After a hole-in-one last week, Leif Olson pitched in for eagle on the par-5 16th en route a 68 Thursday. 
Steve Lowery birdied 7 of his final 9 holes and had 10 birdies in all Thursday to take the lead. INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Bob Stevens offers these observations from Thursday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
We kept waiting for Tiger to take off on Thursday. So what if he made a par at the par-5, when he'd dominated the par-5s at Warwick Hills over the years? So what if he then bogeyed the second? Hey, he saved par at the fourth with a 22-footer. So what if he was still 2 over after No. 6, he birdied Nos. 7, 10, 12 and 14 to battle back to 2 under? Certainly he'd make 74 into 68 and get back into the hunt. But he bogeyed the 15th, parred the par-5 16th after an enormous 344-yard drive right down the middle and missed a 5-footer for birdie at 17. His 71 is probably the best he deserved. He's eight shots back and on the wrong side of the cut line. There are those who'll predict disaster, but there also might be a comeback story written early Friday morning. Woods will get his chance at redemption beginning at 7:54 a.m.
While big hitters get a bonus at Warwick Hills, Corey Pavin shot an opening-round 66 by hitting it very close at the short par-4 12th and 14th holes for birdie and by dropping a 31-footer at 13 and a 20-footer at 17. But a word of warning from Corey to leaders Steve Lowery and John Senden: Pavin shot an opening-round 64 to share the first-round lead last year, only to follow with a 74 to end up finishing 12th.
Watch on Friday for a handful of players who were very quiet in the opening round, but really did nothing to lose the tournament. Woody Austin and Chad Campbell had bogey-free 68s, as did past champions Rocco Mediate and Billy Mayfair. Jim Furyk can at least say he's 2-up on Tiger after a first-round 69. And who would have thought a couple of months ago that we'd be talking about David Duval competing in the PGA TOUR playoffs for the FedExCup? He's 141st on the points list, but is already 3 under this week.
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