This is about as fair to the other open qualifiers as steroids is to baseball.
Tiger Woods played his first round of golf Wednesday since knee surgery two days after the Masters, getting a thumbs-up from his swing coach after 17-plus holes at Torrey Pines riding in a cart.
Eight days before the start of the U.S. Open, Woods played in solitude on the South Course with swing coach Hank Haney, stopping only when he saw a small group of people with cameras waiting around the 18th green.
"It went well," Haney said in a telephone interview. "He hit the ball really well. It was definitely a positive day."
The San Diego Union-Tribune, which first reported on its Web site that Woods had played, said the round lasted 3 hours, 15 minutes amid tight security. No spectators or media were allowed on the course, which has been closed since May 21.
It was the first time Woods has played at Torrey Pines since he won the Buick Invitational in January by eight shots before thousands of fans. Haney said it was eerie to play a city-owned golf course with no one around.
"We were the only ones out there," Haney said. "The course is in phenomenal condition." Woods, who opened his 2008 season by winning his first four tournaments, had surgery to clean out cartilage in his left knee on April 15, two days after his runner-up finish at the Masters ended talk about a Grand Slam.
Tiger Woods played his first round of golf Wednesday since knee surgery two days after the Masters, getting a thumbs-up from his swing coach after 17-plus holes at Torrey Pines riding in a cart.
Eight days before the start of the U.S. Open, Woods played in solitude on the South Course with swing coach Hank Haney, stopping only when he saw a small group of people with cameras waiting around the 18th green.
"It went well," Haney said in a telephone interview. "He hit the ball really well. It was definitely a positive day."
The San Diego Union-Tribune, which first reported on its Web site that Woods had played, said the round lasted 3 hours, 15 minutes amid tight security. No spectators or media were allowed on the course, which has been closed since May 21.
It was the first time Woods has played at Torrey Pines since he won the Buick Invitational in January by eight shots before thousands of fans. Haney said it was eerie to play a city-owned golf course with no one around.
"We were the only ones out there," Haney said. "The course is in phenomenal condition." Woods, who opened his 2008 season by winning his first four tournaments, had surgery to clean out cartilage in his left knee on April 15, two days after his runner-up finish at the Masters ended talk about a Grand Slam.
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