Wind Makes Things Funky in First Round

Opening day of the Nissan Open requires nothing less than a blow-by-blow account, because the wind blew so consistently that a whole bunch of golf balls took right turns and left turns and made detours to places you can’t find on any map.

Even worse was trying to figure out what direction the wind was blowing at Riviera Country Club.

“It was moving all the time,” Aaron Baddeley said. “It was sort of across and down and across and into.”

That is either a great description of wind movement or how to saw a piece of wood, but it’s easy to appreciate how well Fred Funk played to shoot 65 and take a three-shot lead. Funk had the advantage of beginning early Thursday morning when the wind wasn’t as bad and the greens weren’t as dried out and bumpy as they became in the afternoon.

Neither did Funk have a fan’s cellular phone go off in his ear, as Tiger Woods did just before he missed his putt for par at the 17th green. Woods, who began with a 72, was far from happy, which is what happens after you make bogeys at the 15th and the 17th and the causes are two three-putts and one cell phone.

“It was a long day,” Woods said. “A long, tough day.”

At least Woods completed his round. There are 15 players who weren’t able to do that when play was halted at 5:45 p.m. in the growing darkness.

Funk, 46, won $2.4 million last year, the best of his 14-year career, and finished second four times, but he said he has never putted any better than he did the first 11 holes.

There are two reasons, said Funk.

“The bottom line, the theme of the whole day ... I was really hot,” he said. “And the golf course is great. The superintendent here, I saw him, I said, ‘I hope you are getting paid a lot because you deserve it.’ ”

Meanwhile, there’s a long way to go before the $4.5-million purse is divided. Funk is most closely pursued by Jeff Sluman, Nick Price, Steve Elkington and Cameron Beckman, who had matching 68s.

David Duval enjoyed a roller coaster round of 69 that included a popped-up three-wood at the first tee and a chip-in birdie from the other side of the bunker in the middle of the green at the sixth. He finds himself in a six-way tie with Charles Howell III, Bob Estes, defending champion Len Mattiace, Glen Hnatiuk and Baddeley.

Sluman ended his round the right way, sinking an 18-foot uphill putt at the 18th, even though the green wasn’t looking very pretty at the time.

“Kind of like, you know, the moon at night,” he said. “The sun was coming down, I saw the spike marks, I thought, ‘Oh, boy, I will take a two-putt right now.’ And, miraculously, the ball went in.”

Some survived the conditions better than others. Those on the wrong side included Jose Maria Olazabal, who shot an 80, and Paul Azinger, who had an 83. Justin Leonard shot a 78, Davis Love III a 76. Fulton Allem shot 79 and was gone with the wind, choosing to withdraw. The average score was three over (74.039).

Only 15 players finished their rounds under par, a testament to how difficult Riviera can be when it’s windy and the greens become firm and dry.

Baddeley birdied three of the first five holes and was four under through 12, but he bogeyed the 14th when he failed to get up and down from the bunker. It got worse at the next par three, the 16th, when he found two bunkers.

“I made sure I saw all of that hole,” Baddeley said.

He also said he intends to make an unmistakable fashion statement with his on-course attire, designed by J. Lindeberg of Sweden, who also clothes Jesper Parnevik and Howell. On Thursday, Baddeley wore a grape juice purple shirt, plaid pants and white shoes.

“I’ll have some louder stuff later in the week,” he said.

There is also the statement made by the group of elders hot on Funk’s heels. Beckman is 32, but the rest are from a different generation. Elkington, the 1995 PGA winner at Riviera, is 40, Sluman is 45 and Price is 46.

“Just because we’re over 40 doesn’t mean we are bad,” Sluman said.

It’s a decent point. Funk hasn’t won since 1998 and Elkington since 1999, but Price and Sluman won tournaments last year.

Funk says he’s going to enjoy his round and try to get another one like it. He said he has learned to be realistic at his age.

“I don’t pretend to have the kind of game that Tiger has,” said Funk, a five-time winner. “I got to be doing a lot of things good and be putting good to score every day on a course that is set up like this right now with these firm conditions.

“I am very realistic about my game. I don’t pretend. I had a magical day with the putter today and got a nice number.”

To hear Funk talk, he had some wind in his sails.

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Leaderboard

First-round scores from the Nissan Open, played on the 7,221-yard, par-71 Riviera CC:

*--* 6-under Fred Funk ... 34-31--65 3-under Cameron Beckman ... 32-36--68 Steve Elkington ... 33-35--68 Nick Price ... 35-33--68 Jeff Sluman ... 35-33--68 Note: Play halted due to darkness with 15 players still on course

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