Stewart Cink, seeking his first PGA Tour title in five years, charged into a one-shot lead at the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday as Phil Mickelson also moved into early contention despite nursing a troublesome back.
Mickelson, who frequently winced at the top of his backswing because of muscle pain down his side, carded a three-under 69 on the easier North Course, while seven-time champion Tiger Woods opened with an even 72 on the brutal South layout.
Cink, who has not triumphed anywhere since his playoff victory over Tom Watson in the 2009 British Open at Turnberry, fired a flawless 64 on the North to seize control of the PGA Tour event at picturesque Torrey Pines outside San Diego.
Photo: AFP
The 40-year-old Cink birdied four of his last six holes to end a mainly sunny day which began with a fog delay of 30 minutes one stroke in front of fellow American Gary Woodland, who also started out on the North.
Australians Jason Day and Marc Leishman, South African Tyrone van Aswegen and American Jim Herman opened with 66s, while American Pat Perez, with a 67, was the only player in the top 16 who played on the more difficult South layout.
Tour veteran Cink was delighted with his opening round, despite sinking just one birdie on the four par-five holes.
“If you drive it well on the North Course, you’re going to have birdie opportunities and I drove it very well most of the day,” the tall American told Golf Channel. “It was just a different game from the short grass out there. You’ve got some shorter holes and I took advantage of a lot of those holes ... the par-fives, I didn’t play those very well. It was a very calm, very relaxed kind of round.”
Woods, competing in his first tournament of the year, offset two birdies with two bogeys on a South layout playing tougher than usual because of firm conditions, narrow fairways and thick rough.
“Well, even par’s not too bad, but I didn’t play the par-fives worth a darn today,” said the world No. 1, who clinched last year’s Farmers Insurance Open by four shots in a fog-delayed Monday finish.
San Diego native Mickelson, a three-times champion at Torrey Pines, mixed four birdies with a lone bogey to climb the leaderboard and was thankful he had played his opening round on the less daunting North.
“I kind of milked my way around the golf course and I was able to do that on the North Course because the penalty wasn’t as severe as it is on the South,” the American left-hander said. “I am able to kind of get it up by the green and get up and down and salvage par. I made a couple of birdies, but it won’t hold up on the South Course so I’ve got to get it better.”
However, Mickelson said he would consider withdrawing from the event if his muscle pain did not respond sufficiently to treatment over the next 24 hours.
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