The Early Players Get the Birdies

Fans in few other sports suffer the way spectators do at a golf tournament.

Where else but on a golf course could you find spectators wrapped in sweaters and jackets, using hand warmers, walking through soaking wet grass--getting their designer sneakers slathered with mud--to catch an early-morning glimpse of their favorite player, once in a while?

Viewing areas are not easily found at Valencia Country Club, site of this week’s Nissan Open, but that didn’t keep the faithful from scrambling from hole to hole, from green to tee, from one rope-lined fairway to another Thursday in pursuit of Tiger Woods & Co.

The Tiger Watch began at 6:45 a.m. when the Masters champion arrived at the driving range. Only a few dozen were there to welcome him, but by the time he moved to the putting green, several hundred had gathered.

Those awake enough at that hour to watch closely might have noted that Tiger took three putts on several efforts. Maybe that was to get it out of his system, because during his 18 holes, he three-putted only one of Valencia’s severely undulating greens.

At 7:27, he teed off with Phil Mickelson and Scott Hoch in one of the day’s feature threesomes, one that lived up to its billing when all three shot in the 60s, Mickelson and Hoch with 67s and Woods a 68.

Hoch came prepared. He wore heavy mittens while walking the fairway.

Woods and Hoch birdied the first hole, a 540-yard par-five that Tiger reached with a driver and three-iron.

Only those who lined the ropes on one side of the sloping fairway actually saw his shots, however. The rest of the gallery, which by now was in the thousands, got the results by ear.

When Woods’ eagle putt slid by the hole, a moaning “ooooh” went up from those who could see. Moments later, an enthusiastic applause meant the birdie was in the cup.

Applause was also a nice way to keep hands warm.

Even those fortunate enough to be next to the fairway might have been confused, because instead of seeing golf balls on the grass, there were white tees stuck in the turf.

The sinful “lift, clean and place” rule, which is something quite different from “winter rules,” under which players bump the ball around with their club heads, or maybe swipe it through the grass to knock off a mud clot, was in effect.

LC&P; permits a player to mark his ball with a tee, pick it up, hand it to the caddie for cleaning, then look for a spot to carefully put it down, almost as if it were teed up. Some even spotted the ball, took a stance, and if they weren’t comfortable, placed it again. The rules permit them a club length from the original spot, which can sometimes be the difference between trouble and a straightaway shot.

“Any time a player gets the ball in his hand, you’re going to have low scores,” Hoch said. “Even a wind like we had today can’t change that.”

Starter Raymond Chilton, who has been sending golfers off the first tee in the L.A. Open--by whatever name--for the last 16 years, said the only noticeable difference between Valencia and Riviera around the tee box was that there was more room at Valencia.

“Things get pretty crowded at Riviera,” Chilton said. “Everything is so cramped against the clubhouse. Here, there’s plenty of space to spread out.

“The good thing is that nearly all the players have made positive comments to me about how much they enjoy this course. That has to make the [L.A. Junior Chamber of Commerce] committee happy.”

Chilton knows what it’s like to have happy players. He was tournament chairman in 1981.

The only frowns Thursday, other than from Gabriel Hjertstedt, who had an 81, were on the faces of vendors selling Lemon Chill.