9:54 pm CDT, Thursday, October 22, 2020
- Colombian Sebastián Muñoz watches his shot from the fairway heading for the 18th hole in the first round of the Zozo Golf Championship in Thousand Oaks, California, on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez) lessColombian Sebastián Muñoz watches his shot from the fairway heading to the 18th hole in the first round of the Zozo Golf Championship in Thousand Oaks, Calif., On Thursday, Oct.22, 2020. (AP … more
Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP
Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP
THOUSAND OAKS, California, USA (AP) – Sebastián Muñoz and Tiger Woods ended up with unusual cards Thursday for different reasons at the Zozo Golf Championship held in Sherwood. But it was only good news for one of them.
Colombian Muñoz landed an eagle twice with a combined distance of 219 yards (200 meters). He also had eight birdies. Due to a wild start he had a double bogey, as well as three bogeys and finished five holes wide, for a total of 64 strokes, 8 under par and one stroke advantage.
“An abnormal round,” Muñoz said.
That was especially the case for the American Woods. For the first time in his 1,277 rounds as a pro on the PGA Tour circuit, Woods bogeyed or worse three holes of par-5s in a single round. His score was 76, 4 over par, his worst score by two strokes in 49 rounds at Sherwood Country Club, leaving 12 strokes away from the lead and without comment.
Muñoz, who played collegiate golf at the University of North Texas, finished his bizarre round saving par with a 15-foot (4.57-meter) shot on the 18th hole from a narrow section in front of a hazard.
The Colombian takes advantage of a stroke over the British Tyrrell Hatton, the most competitive golfer this month, and the American Justin Thomas, who had a close closing. Hatton, conquered the iconic European Tour competition at Wentworth, traveled to Las Vegas for the CJ Cup and tied for third place. Thomas racked up 29 strokes in the final nine holes at Sherwood. Each finished with 65 hits.
If it’s impressive to see Woods so far from the lead in this scenario, it’s a matter of perspective. He has conquered Sherwood five times, has been runner-up five times, against small groups of competitors. He’s played just his third competitive round in the past seven weeks and his first since missing the cut a month ago at the US Open.
Woods’ lack of form was evident and a few stray balls on the green did not help his cause. His outing on the 11th hole at par 5 went to the right, which is normally not a big problem except when the ball stops rolling on the ground between two trees very close to each other.
Woods couldn’t believe it when he got to the ball and immediately attempted to come out with a bowed-sided baton using his left hand.
It didn’t work for him to get back on the fairway and the tall grass around him was thicker than the previous 12 times he played in December at Sherwood. The trail had excessive rye and thick grass just like Shadow Creek. He took a short shot from there and finished bogey.
