Off-colour Woods in touch at the top

Tiger Woods bogeyed the final hole to fall two strokes off the lead but he remained very much the man to beat after the opening round of the CA Championship today.

Woods was in a sour mood after three-putting the last on a day when Spaniard Miguel Jimenez stormed home with a late rush to tie Australian Geoff Ogilvy for the lead with a seven-under-par 65.

“I didn’t really do anything all that special today,” said Woods, who has won this World Golf Championship event six times in eight attempts.

“I hung in there and took care of the par-fives and made a couple other birdies but all in all I just ground it out.

“I wasn’t hitting the ball all that poorly. I was hitting it in the right spots and just didn’t make any putts until 15 and 16.

“You three-putt 18, you’re not going to be real happy.”

Woods has won his past seven tournaments in a streak that stretches back more than six months, perhaps explaining why today’s round of 67 seemed relatively ordinary.

Jimenez birdied four of the final five holes to tie for the lead, but he has been around far too long to get overly excited about one round.

“I played well and holed some four-five footers for birdie,” said the 44-year-old from Malaga.

“When you’re hitting it well and holing some putts, you expect to shoot 65.”

Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, continued his recent resurgence with a tidy round that included seven birdies.

He missed the cut in his first three starts of the year, perhaps no coincidence considering his second child was born in January, but top-15 finishes in his past two tournaments suggest that his start here was no fluke.

“I played well, gave myself a lot of chances and I made those chances,” he said.

Despite a moderate northerly breeze, the course was relatively easy, perhaps because a couple of the tougher holes, notably the par-four 18th, played downwind.

Luke Donald and Ross Fisher shot 68 to head a mixed British contingent, with Justin Rose and Nick Dougherty on 70, but it was a dreadful day for Colin Montgomerie, third last after a 75.

Montgomerie needs a top-four finish here to jump into the top 50 in the world and therefore qualify for the Masters, but it would take a dramatic transformation for that to happen.

Rose failed to build on a strong start. Four birdies in 10 holes sent the European Order of Merit champion flying up the leaderboard, but he stumbled with a couple of quick bogeys, followed by some squandered opportunities down the stretch.

“(I feel a) little hard done by,” Rose said. “I played well coming in, hit some great putts on 16, 17 and 18 that all defied gravity.

“I played well, stayed patient, attitude was great, played the best I’ve played all year. I felt it could have been or should have been a few better but at least inside I feel good about the round.

“Mentally, today was the biggest improvement. I felt a lot more calm out on the course, a lot more patient.”

Fellow Englishman Nick Dougherty also had mixed feelings.

“My two-under doesn’t look too special but all in all I’m pleased with that,” he said.

“The double (bogey) on four was annoying, because we had to wait on that tee for about 20 minutes. I made an error, so I’m not blaming that, but it didn’t help.”