Woods struggles in first round of own tournament

Ten years later, Tiger Woods struggled again at the Congressional Country Club.

Woods bogeyed the first two holes of his own tournament on Thursday before rain forced a brief delay. When play resumed, it didn’t get any better. By the time his round was over, he had missed a 2-foot tap-in, hit a man in the face with a drive and tossed his putter in frustration at his bag several times.

The last time Woods played a competitive round here, he finished 19th at the 1997 U.S. Open.

His scorecard in the first round of the inaugural AT&T National included seven bogeys in a 3-over round of 73, tied for 77th place and seven shots behind five co-leaders: Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, K.J. Choi, Joe Ogilvie and Stuart Appleby.

Woods putted 34 times, including three three-putts, and he missed every attempt longer than 8 feet

“It’s one of the worst putting rounds I have had in years,” Woods said. “I’m going to have to figure out something for (Friday) because evidently what I’m doing is not even close to being right. I’ve got to fix it. I’ve got to get back in this tournament.”

On the final day of the U.S. Open in 1997, he finished his round and said: “The suffering’s over. This golf course beat me up.”

This time, he was ready to beat up his putter.

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