Tiger Has Quite a Time at Nissan Open

<br>LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Tiger Woods missed the competition during his two-month break following knee surgery, but certainly not the commotion. <br><br>Woods was still stewing from missing a 6-foot birdie

Friday, February 21st 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Tiger Woods missed the competition during his two-month break following knee surgery, but certainly not the commotion.

Woods was still stewing from missing a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 17 that would have put him under par Thursday in the Nissan Open, and a little closer to Fred Funk's remarkable round of 6-under 65.

Then, it got worse.

Right when Woods made contact on his next putt _ a 4-footer for par _ a cell phone rang behind the green.

After tapping in for bogey, Woods glared at the man. When the phone rang again, he cursed him loud enough for everyone to hear.

``Turn off the (expletive) phone,'' Woods shouted.

An air horn to signal the end of play because of darkness didn't bother him on his approach to No. 18. Neither did the sprinklers that spit and gurgled nearby on a hill.

The phone was another matter.

``It's a foreign sound, not something you normally hear on a golf course,'' he said after a 1-over 72, the first time he was over par in the first round of the Nissan Open.

It was a strange day, indeed.

The play was so slow that 15 players had to return to Riviera Country Club on Friday to finish the first round. David Duval was so wild off the tee that a woman had to move her popcorn stand so he could play his next shot. Duval still finished at 69.

And at a time when everyone is concerned about distance, one of the shortest hitters on the PGA Tour opened up the largest 18-hole lead in 54 events.

Funk can attribute that to the shortest club in his bag.

``The putter was really hot,'' said Funk, who had 11 one-putts and holed another from off the green for birdie. He took only 23 putts in the first round.

The result was a 65, giving him a three-shot lead over Steve Elkington, Nick Price, Cameron Beckman and Jeff Sluman, the only one at 68 who played in the afternoon when the wind was at its worst.

Mike Weir was the last player to lead by as many as three strokes after one round, in the season-opening Mercedes Championships last year.

``I don't even pretend to have the game Tiger has,'' Funk said. ``I've got to be doing a lot of things good and really putting to do well on a course like this.''

A five-time winner on the PGA Tour, Funk is coming off his most profitable year. He was a runner-up four times, tied for fourth in the PGA Championship while paired with Woods on the last day and finished 13th on the money list.

A victory this week would be his biggest, but Funk knows it won't be easy.

Riviera, a classic design and an excellent test, has never been in better shape. The greens are firm and fast, and the course was even more difficult in blustery conditions on a sunny afternoon off Sunset Boulevard.

``If the greens don't get any water on them, it's going to bring the guys that hit the ball farther up to the top of the leaderboard,'' Funk said. ``I would have to have three more days of 23, 25, 26 putts to be up there.

``Not that I can't do it _ but I'm realistic about my game.''

He described his round as simply unreal, at least with the putter. He holed long putts for par in the middle of his round, and made three straight birdies to really separate himself from the field before a bogey at No. 9, his final hole.

Elkington has some history at Riviera. This is where he won his only major, the 1995 PGA Championship. Price won last year at Colonial, a course that also requires players to shape the ball both directions.

Duval was a little more unconventional.

On the opening hole, he missed the fairway by 50 yards, hit his second into the lip of a steep bunker, got back to the fairway, flew the green, then chipped in for par.

He made par on the next hole despite really driving left into practice range. He chipped in for birdie on No. 6 from the fringe of the famous bunker in the middle of the green.

On the par-5 11th, he was so far right that officials can to push away a golf cart that was providing power to the electronic scoreboard, and then popcorn had to go. Duval wound up saving par with a 12-foot putt.

``Fun for the whole family,'' he said when asked to describe his round.

Joining Duval at 69 was Charles Howell III, defending champion Len Mattiace, Bob Estes, Glen Hnatiuk of Canada and Aaron Baddeley, the brash young Aussie.

Baddeley said the firm, fast conditions and swirling wind reminded him of Australia, and he loved the conditions when he awoke Thursday.

``Then you find out which guys could hit the different sort of shots, and which guys have the mental attitude,'' said Baddeley, who is all of 21.

Not everyone was such a mental giant.

Of the PGA Tour winners this year who are at Riviera, Woods (Buick Invitational) and Weir (Bob Hope Classic) had the best score at 72. Davis Love III (Pebble Beach) had a 76, but they all were in good company.

Only 15 players managed to break par.