Woods Makes a Soggy Return

In Tiger Woods’ return to the PGA Tour after knee surgery, the only red carpet rolled out for him Tuesday was a mat to wipe his feet at the end of a soggy practice round on the Torrey Pines North Course.

“I feel great,” said Woods, whose first start of the year will be in the Buick Invitational. “My knee feels great, and mentally I feel fresh.”

A steady rain, not to mention his 6:40 a.m. start, kept the crowds to a minimum. No more than 60 people were following Woods when he finished 18 holes in just over two hours.

“Can you believe this?” he said. “Perfect weather at every West Coast tournament, then I show up and we get this.”

He hit every fairway and missed only two greens. Rain left so much water on some of the greens that Woods didn’t bother to putt. He simply fixed his pitch mark -- a couple of them within three feet of the cup -- and picked up his ball.

“I do have some catching up to do,” Woods said as he left the course.

Media credentials for the Buick Invitational have more than doubled to 300. Woods is a big reason why purses have increased, and television ratings jump when he is in contention.

“He’s my favorite player besides me,” said Chris Riley, who grew up playing junior golf with Woods. “He gives the tour a lot of notoriety.”

In the lobby of a nearby hotel, a manager was on the phone Monday night trying to explain to a desperate customer that he had no rooms left.

“Tiger Woods is coming to town tonight,” he said. “It’s very busy.”

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Annika Sorenstam is negotiating to play in the Colonial.

Tournament director Dee Finely said the LPGA star’s agent has inquired about giving one of the 12 sponsor’s exemptions to Sorenstam.

“We have been contacted by Mark Steinberg [at IMG],” Finley said. “It’s interesting, and something for us to consider.”

He declined to comment on the negotiations until “we have something to announce.”

Sorenstam said last month she would say “yes in a heartbeat” if a PGA Tour event offered her an exemption.

“I would love to play,” she said. “I have nothing to lose. It’s a great challenge.”

Bank of America recently signed up as the title sponsor and is believed to be interested in having Sorenstam in the field.

Sorenstam’s main stipulation about playing on the PGA Tour is to compete on a course that does not require power off the tee. Colonial is 7,080 yards and puts a premium on accuracy off the tee.

“Even if she plays Colonial, it would have to play hard and fast,” Woods said Tuesday, suggesting that Sorenstam would need a lot of roll to compensate for a lack of power.

PGA Tour players have been mostly supportive of her playing, although some doubt whether she could compete.

Still, the Colonial has one of the smallest fields on tour -- 114 to 120 players, while most PGA Tour events have 132 to as many as 156 players. There could be a backlash if it was perceived Sorenstam was taking away a spot in a small field.

“That would be something we would consider very, very seriously in making an offer to her,” Finley said. “We do have a number of players that don’t yet qualify for our field that have requested sponsor’s exemptions.”