Courses Take Lumps on First Day

Soft and wet. Soft and lumpy. What in the world was J.J. Henry describing? Somebody’s blanket that was tossed in the bathtub?

He was talking about the condition of the greens on opening day of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where the putting surfaces may have been underwhelming, but the situation didn’t seem to bother any golfers much.

Foremost among them were Henry, winless in four years as a pro, and Matt Kuchar, the 1997 U.S. Amateur champion who soared in his rookie year but struggled last year.

Henry and Kuchar wrote matching seven-under 65s on their scorecards and assumed a one-shot lead Thursday over Tommy Tolles.

When the day was done, 76 players beat par on a relatively sunny and calm day here on the three courses carved out of the Del Monte Forest and nudging the Pacific Ocean.

It was muddy enough to play winter rules at Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills, which allowed the players to lift, clean and place their balls. They played the ball down at Pebble Beach, where there was no mud on the greens, just the usual problems of steering balls into the hole.

“Obviously, you’re not going to make every putt out here,” said Henry, who made enough of them to get seven birdies at Pebble Beach.

Henry’s career has thrown him a curve after a promising rookie year in 2001, when he was second twice and made more than $1 million. But Henry had only three top-10 finishes in the last two years, and that sent him back to the driving range, where he worked on his short game, his chipping and putting.

“I feel like, hopefully, my best golf is ahead of me,” he said.

Kuchar, who fell to 182nd on the money list after his breakthrough victory at the 2002 Honda Classic, missed the cut in his other two events this year, at Honolulu and Scottsdale, Ariz.

“In most people’s rounds, the good ones, the putts tend to fall,” said Kuchar, who birdied the last three holes at Poppy Hills. “And my rounds of late, the putts just haven’t fallen. And I think the golfing gods are just smiling back on me, saying they owed me one and the putts went in.”

Vijay Singh shot a 31 on the back nine at Poppy Hills to finish with a 67 and a fourth-place tie with Kent Jones, Ken Duke, K.J. Choi, Philip Price, Robert Gamez, Tom Pernice Jr. and Craig Barlow. Singh is trying for his 12th consecutive top-10 finish, two short of Jack Nicklaus’ record set in 1977.

Davis Love III, the defending champion, put himself in a precarious position with a three-over 75 at Spyglass.

Phil Mickelson got off to another quick start with a four-under 68 at Poppy Hills. Mickelson, who won the Hope and tied for seventh last week at Scottsdale, is three shots out of the lead.

“I’m not going to complain about a 68,” he said. “It could have been better. I had some putts that went in and some that didn’t go in, the same for everybody.”

Tolles wasn’t about to complain either, even though he probably could get a few people to listen. He’s on the PGA Tour for a second time after working his way back into the big time by spending last year on the minor league Nationwide Tour. That’s a long way from the Tolles of 1997, his third full season, when he had nine top 10s, was third at the Masters, fifth at the U.S. Open and tied for second at the Players Championship.

Tolles, 37, chipped in for a birdie at the par-three 17th at Pebble Beach and tried to contain himself.

“I wanted to do cartwheels and somersaults, but I’m too old for that,” he said.

He earned his PGA Tour card by finishing 20th on the Nationwide money list, which was the last spot that was worth a tour card. It was not a great experience last year, Tolles said.

“It was part of a long road, a long process. It’s just hard. You spend your whole life and then all of a sudden the atmosphere is torn away from you....

“I’d like to think that I’m on the way back up. I’m not sure yet.”

He looked as if he was on the very first hole, where he holed a 10-foot birdie putt. He remembered every inch of it later.

“Typical AT&T; 10-footer. Bounced around and eventually went in. I was as surprised as anybody.”