As the blustery Santa Ana winds blew leaves and debris all over Sherwood Country Club Thursday, those playing in the Chevron World Classic had to adjust accordingly. One who adjusted well was South Korea's K.J. Choi, who had himself a day in the swirling squalls by dropping seven birdies en route to a -6 under 66, though tournament host Toger Woods sits only two shots back at -3.
Choi had the ground running this morning, stringing together five straight birdies over the first five holes. His lone blemish on his score card came in the form of a bogey on the par 3 15th, but came right back with a birdie on the 16th to finish as the leader after the first round.
As for Tiger, he too got out to a great start, dropping four birdies on his first five holes, though began to struggle a bit in the windy weather, leading to bogies on the 9th, 15th, and unfortunately the par 5 16th. Nevertheless, Tiger was one of only six players to break par Thursday, along with Steve Stricker, tied with Tiger at -3, and Nick Watney, Rickie Fowler, and Jim Furyk, all finishing at -1.
It's no surprise that the players that did the best today just so happened to play in the President's Cup is Australia, where the wind was a factor almost every day. Those darn Santa Ana's are supposed to blow again tomorrow, so get your windbreakers on and settle in.