Tiger Woods went 10 weeks and four days without hitting a golf shot that mattered and it hardly showed on Thursday in the Target World Challenge when he struck just about everything where he was aiming.
Until he got to the final hole.
Woods pulled his approach into the hazard on the 18th hole to finish with a double bogey for a three-under 69, leaving him in a pack of players one shot behind Jim Furyk in the final tournament of the year.
PHOTO: AP
"It's frustrating the way it ended, no doubt, because it was a good round of golf," Woods said.
The only regrets were failing to birdie two par fives on the back nine at Sherwood Country Club because of poor pitches and making a mess of the final hole.
Furyk had not played since the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on Oct. 17 and was pleasantly surprised how he recovered from a shaky opening tee shot. He dropped only one shot on a gorgeous day in the Conejo Valley and his birdie on the final hole eventually put him atop the leaderboard in the 16-man field.
US Masters champion Zach Johnson came on strong down the stretch, with consecutive birdies and an unlikely scramble on the par-five 16th. He hit what he called a "chunk-push" with his three-wood into the water, took a penalty drop that landed on shredded bark, dumped that one into a greenside bunker and holed it for a routine par. He wound up with a 69.
Also at 69 were Henrik Stenson and Rory Sabbatini, two guys who have no rust at all.
Sabbatini played in the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, then the Australian PGA Championship last week. Stenson has been all over the world the last six weeks, going from his home in Dubai to Spain for the Volvo Masters, then Shanghai for the HSBC Championship, then Japan for the Dunlop Phoenix, then South Africa for the Nedbank, then to his other home in Orlando, Florida, before going to Los Angeles.
He goes back to Florida for two weeks before heading to Maui for the Mercedes-Benz Championship, then back to Dubai.
"Air miles are not a problem at the moment," Stenson said.
The only other players under par were British Open champion Padraig Harrington and Mark Calcavecchia, both at 71.
■ SOUTH AFRICA OPEN
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Robert Rock shot a two-under 70 on Thursday to lead the South African Open by one stroke.
The Englishman leads a trio of South Africans -- Alex Haindl, Charl Schwartzel and Ulrich van den Berg. He had five birdies and three bogeys at the windy Pearl Valley Golf Estates course.
"It was rewarding and punishing out there," Rock said. "But I'm not bothered by the wind. You have to accept that you're not going to get it as close to the hole as you normally would. This is a week for chipping and putting."
Defending champion Trevor Immelman pulled out of the tournament after playing just two holes because of a rib injury. He is expected to need surgery.
"I was hoping to play through the pain and continue the tournament, but the pain intensified to the degree that I was struggling to breathe and also to swing," Immelman said in a statement.
Rock bogeyed his first hole of the day, but he racked up a pair of birdies on the third and fifth holes before dropping shots on seven and eight. On the back nine, he had three more birdies.
Ernie Els, who blew a two-stroke lead on the final hole last week, finished the first round at five-over 77.
■ DUBAI LADIES MASTERS
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Louise Stahle shot a course record eight-under 64 on Thursday in the first round of the Dubai Ladies Masters.
The 22-year-old Swede had nine birdies and one bogey at the season-ending tournament and leads Laura Davies and Lisa Hall by three strokes. Sophie Gustafson (68) is tied for fourth with Lisa Holm Sorensen.
Defending champion Annika Sorenstam, who held the previous course record of 65, shot a two-under 70 and was tied for ninth place.
Stahle, who was born the same year Davies turned professional in 1985, birdied her first four holes.
"Annika and Laura are players whom I have always looked up to, so it's just great to be ahead of them," Stahle said. "But I do not want to get ahead of myself. This was just the first round and a lot can happen in the next three days. I was on a roll today and hopefully I can continue in the same manner."
Sorenstam is looking for her first win of the season.
"I drove it well and I feel good on this golf course. It suits my game very well," Sorenstam said. "I missed just three greens, but I could not make my up-and-downs from there. I've just got to stay away from mistakes and things should be fine."
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