Home   >   Sports   >   Golf   >   Woods stumbles with chipping in first round of Phoenix Open

Woods stumbles with chipping in first round of Phoenix Open

January 29, 2015
Tiger Woods hits out of the bunker on the ninth hole at the Phoenix Open. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Tiger Woods hits out of the bunker on the ninth hole at the Phoenix Open. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The focus on Tiger Woods at the Phoenix open shifted Thursday from a chipped tooth to his chipping.

Woods struggled with his short game again, and it didn’t help that he only hit three greens in regulation on the front nine. He made three bogeys and a double bogey and made the turn in 4-over 39.

In his 2015 debut, Woods already was 10 shots behind early leader Keegan Bradley, who had a 6-under 65.

Until he arrived at the TPC Scottsdale with a smile, Woods was last seen with a missing tooth while watching girlfriend Lindsey Vonn win a record 63rd World Cup ski race. The chipped and cracked teeth were easy to replace.

His chipping problems first surfaced at the Hero World Challenge in December.