SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - By the time Tiger Woods made the turn in the opening round of a year that means so much for so many reasons, he had already stubbed one chip and bladed another. Things had gotten so bad that he twice took to using the putter from well off the green, lest he mess up his day even more.He hadnt given up, though, and neither had the fans, who swarmed loudly around the Phoenix Open in record numbers. As he walked the gauntlet between the nines, they pleaded with Woods to do something, anything, to make both his day and theirs a little better.You got this, Tiger! one yelled. Go get em on the back nine! another shouted out.Two brilliant shots that brought back memories of the Tiger of old helped Woods do just that Thursday. They also helped him avert the kind of disaster that might have been felt by the Woods camp long after the PGA Tour leaves the Arizona desert.The 2-over 73 wasnt exactly what Woods had in mind when he decided to begin his year with a trip to a tournament he hasnt played in 14 years. Not on an overcast day where there were low scores to be had on TPC Scottsdale.But it could have been worse, much worse. And for that Woods could be happy, despite a short game that looked more like it belonged to a tourist playing the course, not the greatest player of his era.If he needed something to convince himself he could still play after injuries and yet another swing change, he could hang his hat on playing the last six holes in 3-under par.Its not the first time I have gone through this, Woods said. It takes time. Its just a frustrating thing where I just need to get through competitive rounds. I need to get rounds under my belt and get a feel for it.Its also not the first time Woods has expressed similar thoughts. Anyone who has followed Woods in recent years has heard him say the same kind of things about trusting his swing, and working his way through the rust, but its now been a long seven years since he last won a major championship.And whether Woods will allow himself to believe it or not, his latest problems might be tougher to fix than a missing tooth.Driving the ball sideways is one thing, and Woods did hit it wayward a few times Thursday in only his second competitive tournament in six months. But resorting to hit chips with a 4-iron because you dont trust yourself with a wedge in hand is almost unheard of in the top echelon of professional golf.Im just having a hard time finding the bottom, Woods said. Because of my old pattern, I was so steep on it, that I have a new grind on my wedge and sometimes its hard to trust. This is a similar grind I used to use back in the early 2000s, but its a different grind. Some of my shots were into the green with tight pins, and either Ill flop it or bump it, one of the two. I chose to bump it.Got that? There will be a quiz at the Masters, where tentative chippers dont last long around tightly mown collection areas and undulating greens.If this was an unusual place for Woods to begin his season, it wasnt altogether unfamiliar. He was here under much different circumstances in 2001, where he was coming off three major championship wins in a row and getting ready to go for the Tiger Slam in the Masters.He opened with a 65 that year, but that wasnt the big story. It came in the second round when a remarkable streak of shooting par or better over 52 straight rounds came to an end when Woods struggled to a 73.Few believed what they saw that day, and Woods would go on to win the Masters for his fourth straight major. Hes now won 14 of them, the last coming at Torrey Pines in 2008.Contrast that to this year when the 73 marked the fifth consecutive round on the PGA Tour that Woods hasnt broken par. It was also the first time he opened a year with a score over par since turning pro nearly two decades ago.An iron shot to tap-in eagle on the par-5 13th might give him some hope of better times ahead. So will the drive to 20 feet on the par-4 17th hole.But on this day the only thing resembling the Tiger Woods of old were the huge galleries following him at all times, on a day when an estimated record crowd of 118,461 came out to watch his season debut.If nothing else, Tiger Woods still knows how to draw a crowd.____Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg Air Max 270 Wholesale . Bouchard went down to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Svitolina in her opening match at the Sony Open on Friday. Bouchard got the rivalry going two years ago when she won the junior Wimbledon title over Svitolina. Paul George Shoes Discount .The Williams siblings, with 25 Grand Slam titles between them, will have a couple of Madisons joining them, too.Madison Keys had a 6-4, 7-5 upset win over two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova on Saturday night, and Madison Brengle beat Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2 in an all-U. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-max-270-shoes.html . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego. Vapormax Clearance Sale . Justine finished first with a score of 22.44 while Chloe was second with 21.66 points. Defending champion Hannah Kearney of the U.S., was third at 21.49. A third Dufour-Lapointe sister, Maxime, failed to make the final group and finished 12th while Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was 10th. Outlet Air Max 1 .com) - Intrastate rivals collide Saturday as the Texas State Bobcats hit the road to take on the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns in a non-conference battle at Frank Erwin Center.Then Manny Malhotra sticked Crosby in his "Tanner Glasses" right off a face-offSidney did get some payback, and perhaps earned himself the nickname of "Sid Vicious" by giving Jay Harrison what can only be described as a "Rock Bottom"So, overall a good, bad and ugly night for Sid.dddddddddddd We are impressed with his wrestling moves though. We can only hope for a "people elbow" next. ' ' '