Woods bumbles around during first round at his tourney

Hosting his tournament for the first time, Tiger Woods bogeyed his first two holes.

Then came the rain.

It didn’t get much better after that. After a brief delay, Woods continued to be a much more gracious host than he planned. By the time his round was over, he had missed a 2-foot tap-in, hit a man in the face with a drive and tossed his putter in frustration at his bag several times.

His Thursday scorecard at the inaugural AT&T National in Bethesda, Md., included seven bogeys in a 3-over-par round of 73, tied for 77th place and seven shots behind five co-leaders: Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, K.J. Choi, Joe Ogilvie and Stuart Appleby.

Woods putted 34 times, including three three-putts, and he missed every attempt longer than 8 feet.

“It’s one of the worst putting rounds I have had in years,” Woods said. “I’m going to have to figure out something for (today) because evidently what I’m doing is not even close to being right. I’ve got to fix it. I’ve got to get back in this tournament.”

U.S. Senior Open

Eduardo Romero shot a 6-under 66 to grab the lead during the rain-delayed first round of the U.S. Senior Open at Haven, Wis.

Romero’s score tied for the fourth-best opening round in tournament history, and it represented the latest step in a banner summer for Argentine golf. It came less than a month after Romero’s countryman and friend, Angel Cabrera, became the first player from Argentina to win the U.S. Open.

Romero held a three-shot lead over another Argentine, Vicente Fernandez, and a pair of club professionals, Jon Fiedler of Camarillo, Calif. and Ron Vlosich of Lakewood, Colo.

Thunderstorms and high winds ended play at 6:15 p.m. CDT. The 78 players who were unable to finish the round will resume at 7 a.m. today.