PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - The limp that had threatened to sidelinehim was barely noticeable today when Tiger Woods arrived for thefirst round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Woods, bidding forhis third straight tournament victory at Pebble, hyperextended hisleft knee and sprained a ligament Wednesday when an overzealousautograph seeker tripped him at the end of a practice round.
"Just snapped my leg back," Woods said.
When he arrived an hour before his tee time at Spyglass Hilltoday, however, Woods was hardly limping at all. He worked on theputting green, flexing his knee once, then went to the drivingrange, and all seemed OK.
"I should be able to break 90 today," he said.
It was a big change from the previous evening, when Woods saidthe odds were "up there" that he would not be able to play, althoughhe said he would give it a try.
It was a bizarre return to the course that Woods can claim as asecond home, especially after his two thrilling victories at PebbleBeach.
In the AT&T National Pro-Am, Woods was seven strokes behind withseven holes to play when he finished eagle-birdie-par-birdie and wonby two, giving him his sixth straight PGA Tour victory and the moststunning comeback in his spectacular career.
Four months later under vastly different conditions, he was evenbetter. Woods demolished par that the U.S. Golf Association tries sovainly to protect at the U.S. Open, and he did the same thing to thefield.
He finished at 12-under 272, unheard of for a U.S. Open, and wonby 15 strokes, the largest margin in the 140-year history of themajors.
A victory this week would make him the first player since JackNicklaus in 1972-73 to win three straight events on the same courseover a 12-month span. Nicklaus also sandwiched a pair of Crosbysaround a U.S. Open.
"I've always enjoyed playing here, seeing the beauty of it,"Woods said.
Woods was swarmed by autograph seekers as he left the 18th greenWednesday, walking briskly and trying to sign whatever programs andhats where thrust in front of him.
One man, hounding him for autographs during his practice round,tried to position himself in front of the pack, and Woods'inadvertently stepped on his ankle, hyperextending his knee.
"A lot of fans just kind of came down on top of me," Woods said."One guy ran in front. I stepped on his ankle, and my weight goingforward and his weight coming back ... I hyperextended my knee."
Woods winced immediately, glowered at the man and grabbed theback of his leg as he hobbled up a hill. He tried to hit balls afterlunch, but couldn't.
"No way," Woods said. "That's not going to happen."
This is the second time Woods has been injured since turning pro.He had what turned out to be a stinger in his left hand at the TourChampionship in Houston in 1999 when he tried to hit through abaseball-sized rock to get to his ball.
As an amateur, Woods had to withdraw from the '95 U.S. Open atShinnecock Hills when he injured his wrist trying to hack out of thedeep rough. He also had a cyst removed from behind his left kneewhile at Stanford.
Woods, the No. 1 player in the world coming off a record-breaking season that included three straight major championshipsamong his nine PGA Tour victories, is often swamped by fans afterrounds.
A security detail was with him, but some fans went under theropes and tried to get close.
"People get aggressive. That's the way it is," Woods said."That's one reason we have security. Some of you say, 'Why do youhave so much security?' It's for instances like this, so they don'thappen. Unfortunately, it happened today."
The rest of his day was a time for good vibes, which are not hardto find when Woods sets foot on the famous course where land meetssea.
But the U.S. Open was far from his mind, especially when he gotto the 446-yard 10th hole. In the dry summer of a U.S. Open, Woodsreached that green with a 3-wood and a wedge. In the cool, softconditions of February, he hit driver and a 3-iron.
"I had a great time," he said. "It was weird, because looking atthe golf course, it looks different than it did in the Open.Obviously, the rough was up, most of the fairways were so much morenarrow than they are now."
This is a different tournament, a different year, even adifferent Tiger.
A year ago, he came into the Pro-Am having won five straight tourevents. Now, he has gone five tour events without winning.
"I'm not that far off," Woods said. "I'm hitting good, solidshots. I'm hitting good putts. They're just a little off. Prettysoon, hopefully, they'll start diving in."
He might get a chance to find out as long as his knee is strongenough for him to play.
Fan causes knee injury to Woods
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