USGA chief hits back at Tiger Woods

Reporting from Pebble Beach — 

PGA Tour players may no longer fear Tiger Woods, but David Fay definitely doesn’t.

Fay, the U.S. Golf Assn.’s executive director, took a shot at Woods while being interviewed Saturday on NBC.

Asked about complaints regarding the Pebble Beach greens, Fay replied: “I think two players used the word awful on Thursday. The world’s No. 2 player said he putted awful. The world’s No. 1 said the greens were awful. I cannot accept that.”

Mickelson actually used the word “horrific” to describe his putting performance in the first round.

Woods on Thursday called the poa annua greens “awful” after they became bumpy. He added that his putts were “bouncing all over the place” and “it is what it is. It’s poa in the afternoon and they are fast.”

USGA official Mike Davis, who is in charge of the course setup, did not seem bothered by Woods’ comments, attributing his frustration to late-round struggles: “It certainly wasn’t a personal assault against me (or) the Pebble Beach Company.”

Davis explained that poa annua greens contain hundreds of different strands of grass, and they grow at different rates. So late in the day, especially on sunny days, they can get uneven.

Fay seemed far more peeved by Woods’ comments.

“As far as the greens are concerned, he’s wrong,” Fay said. “That old statement that you’re entitled to your opinion? He is entitled to his opinion, but he’s off on his facts. These putting surfaces have never been better.”

Woods didn’t seem to mind them Saturday when he shot a 66.

Aces up

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee made a hole in one Saturday on the 180-yard fifth hole. Equally impressive, he used an eight-iron for his 10th career ace.

“Very tough course,” said Jaidee, who eagled No. 3 during the second round. “Today we got lucky on that hole.”

Lone rider

Thanks to an odd number of players, Ty Tryon played as a single Saturday, going off at 9 a.m. He shot 78 in a tidy three hours, 31 minutes.

“It was a nice walk,” he said. “Pretty quick, I think. I wish I could’ve played a little better.

“I came out striking it great. Then, I just totally lost my putting stroke. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t hit my line. It was just one of those days.”

tgreenstein@tribune.com