A pair of birdies in his final two holes helped David Toms grab a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Wachovia Championship in North Carolina on Thursday.
Toms fired eight birdies in a five-under-par 67 built on an outward nine of 32 at Quail Hollow to edge ahead of Phil Mickelson and Jason Bohn with Zach Johnson among a large group two shots adrift.
The 41-year-old, who took a month off before the Masters to rest an injured back, made a fine start in perfect morning conditions, picking up five strokes against one bogey over his first nine holes before coming home one under par thanks to birdies at the eighth and ninth.
‘It does feel good to play solid golf again,’ said Toms.
‘It gives me a little bit of confidence. I hit a lot of great shots today, so it wasn't like it was a fluke round.
‘If I hit my driver better, I could have had a great round, because I hit a lot of great iron shots.’
Toms, who won this event in 2003, spent four weeks resting his troublesome back at home in Louisiana and revealed he would reduce his schedule if he could not regain the form that earned him 12 PGA Tour victories, including the 2001 PGA Championship, from 1997 to 2006.
‘I've got a couple of deteriorated disks and from time to time my back just locks up to where I can't really move at all,’ he added.
‘If I was 25 and in perfect shape it wouldn't be that big a deal but I'm not either of those. The condition I have, my father has the same thing and my grandfather has the same thing.
‘I'm secure enough that if I'm not having fun playing and feel like it's a struggle physically, then I won't continue to do it full-time.’
Toms and his two closest pursuers all played in the morning, with 69 the best score in the afternoon half of the field.
While Toms struggled with his back problem, Bohn was out for the final half of last year with a rib injury he suffered during the Memorial tournament.
‘I made a swing and felt some really sharp pain in my right rib cage, finished the round and found out I had stress fractures in two different ribs, two stress fractures,’ said Bohn, whose round of 68 included six birdies.
‘I couldn't touch a club for six months.
‘I'm 100% healthy now and still trying to shake a little rust off my game, so it's either Jekyll or Hyde right now. I play well or don't play so well.’
Bohn finished sixth at the Heritage two weeks ago and has posted two other top-25 finishes but also missed four cuts.
But it was not a great day for Adam Scott, last week's Byron Nelson Championship winner, who made three consecutive bogeys around the turn and ultimately was reasonably happy to salvage a 72.
‘I hit a couple of loose shots, two in the water,’ he said.
Scott's score was better than most on a day when the field averaged 72.9 strokes.
And it is only likely to get more difficult over the next couple of days as the course dries out after torrential rain earlier in the week.
