SAN DIEGO – New season, same old story with Tiger Woods.

Only it’s no longer a happy tale.

For the third time in his last eight PGA Tour events, Woods got into a cart in the middle of his round and was driven to the parking lot because of back pain. Most troubling about Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open was he spoke only a week ago of feeling “great” physically, and this was only his second event of the year.

He blamed this one on the weather, which caused his “glutes” to shut off.

Woods walked off the course after 11 holes on the North Course at Torrey Pines, citing tightness in his lower back from standing around for more than an hour in the cool Pacific air during a fog delay in the morning. He never looked comfortable, and Billy Horschel noticed it right away. Woods was reaching for his back at the turn. Horschel tried to help by picking up the tee for Woods on their 10th hole and the ball from the cup when Woods made birdie.

“I was ready to go,” Woods said. “I had a good warmup session the first time around. Then we stood out here and I got cold, and everything started deactivating again. And it’s frustrating that I just can’t stay activated. That’s just kind of the way it is.”

Woods now has gone 12 straight PGA Tour events without a top 10, dating to his runner-up finish in The Barclays in 2013 when back pain dropped him to his knees. This was his first round since a career-high 82 last week in the Phoenix Open to tie for last with a club pro and miss the cut by 12 shots.

“It’s tough to see a guy I look up to, a guy I consider a friend, to have issues with spasms,” Horschel said. “It’s tough to see him go, but he was in quite a bit of pain.”

Nicholas Thompson had an 8-under 64 on the North Course and had a one-shot lead over Michael Thompson when play was suspended by darkness. Brooks Koepka, coming off his victory in the Phoenix Open, had a 66 on the North. The best score on the tougher South Course belonged to Jhonnatan Vegas, who shot 67.

Dustin Johnson, playing for the first time since his six-month leave for “personal challenges,” holed out for eagle on No. 4 on the South Course as his lone highlight. He had five bogeys and was 2 over with one hole remaining.

But this day was all about Woods, which used to be typical at Torrey Pines because he has won the tournament seven times. Thursday was different. Several players came out of the scoring area and said, “What happened to Tiger?”

“It’s just my glutes are shutting off,” Woods said, sound more like a physical therapist than a 14-time major champion. “Then they don’t activate and then, hence, it goes into my lower back. So I tried to activate my glutes as best I could in between, but they never stayed activated.”

It has become a troubling trend for Woods. In his last six tournaments since back surgery last March, he has missed the cut three times, withdrawn twice and finished 69th in the British Open, his lowest 72-hole finish in a major.

“It’s just tough not seeing him have his best, whether it’s with his game or with his health,” said Rickie Fowler, who played in the group with him.

Woods was 2-over par through 11 holes and in a tie for 130th when he withdrew.

He will fall to his worst world ranking since before he won his first PGA Tour event as a 20-year-old in 1996, and he most likely will not qualify for a World Golf Championship for only the second time in his career. Woods is not expected to play again until the Honda Classic in three weeks. Doral is the following week. He did not indicate earlier in the week that he would add tournaments to his schedule ahead of the Masters, which is April 9-12.

The front nine at Torrey Pines was more of the same kind of golf he showed in the Phoenix Open last week, when he missed the cut by 12 shots with a short game that was shocking. On his first hole, the par-4 10th, Woods short-sided himself right of the green and he bladed his chip some 35 feet beyond the hole for a bogey.

He was in trouble again on the next hole, facing the same chip, and this time struck it perfectly. He chipped in to save par.

From there, it was a mixed bag of poor tee shots (he hit only one fairway) and poor iron shots. His tee shot on the par-3 12th wound up on a front tee box at the 13th hole. He missed the green long and right from the 13th fairway.

Woods made a 6-foot birdie on the 16th and he made birdie on the par-5 first hole. The last hole he completed was the most telling.

Horschel and Woods were in the right rough, about 70 yards short of the green. Horschel hit to about 12 feet on the collar of the green behind the hole. Woods went about a yard from a tee box on the next hole, the shot sailing over the heads of the gallery and down a slope. From there, he duffed his flop shot halfway up the hill, hit the next one too hard about 15 feet past the cup and two-putted for double bogey.

Woods won five times in 2013 and was PGA Tour player of the year. He has never looked further from the elite in golf as he does now. Woods took four months off to let his back fully heal and to regain his strength. On Thursday, he headed home early from Torrey Pines to a future as mysterious as fog.

On the Canadian front, Adam Hadwin was even par when play was suspended. Roger Sloan (73) and Mike Weir (74) each managed to complete their opening-rounds.

SAN DIEGO – Tiger Woods is at Torrey Pines and the center of attention, just like always.

Just not like this.

Woods was on the practice range Wednesday morning at the Farmers Insurance Open, working with swing consultant Chris Como. Billy Horschel and Pat Perez looked on, not in awe, but as though they wanted to help. The pro-am was delayed two hours because of fog, which was only fitting.

Woods looks lost right now. At the very least, the view is blurred.

And returning to a golf course where he has won eight times, including a third U.S. Open title in 2008, hasn’t raised anyone’s hopes – maybe not even his. It was rare to hear Woods talk so openly about trying to get his game in shape for the Masters, which is still two months away.

“The whole idea is to make sure that I’m ready for Augusta, so I got a lot of rounds to play between now and then,” Woods said.

He is coming off an 82 at the Phoenix Open, the worst score of his career, to miss the cut by 12 shots. In his previous competition at the unofficial Hero World Challenge, he tied for last in the 18-man field. Before that, he missed the cut at the PGA Championship.

Woods used to look unbeatable, especially on a course like Torrey Pines. At the moment, that’s not the case.

“Everyone out here is human,” Rickie Fowler said. “We all understand the struggles out here as far as good golf and bad golf and the ups and downs of the game. That’s just part of the process if you’re working on new stuff or just having a bad day.”

“I hope he turns it around,” Perez said.

Woods was at the peak of his powers in 2008 when a caddie stood behind the 18th green at Torrey Pines to watch him finish up a 67 on the South Course in the opening round. The caddie said, “He just won two tournaments with one round.” Sure enough, Woods won the PGA Tour event by eight shots that week, and then he won the U.S. Open that summer on a left leg that was in shambles.

Even two years ago, Woods destroyed the field at Torrey Pines when he was leading by eight shots on the back nine until play became so slow that he rushed his way in, dropped a few shots and only won by four.

That now seems like a long time ago.

Even though it’s February, Woods might be at a critical juncture when the Farmers Insurance Open gets started Thursday. Another poor performance, especially with his hard-to-watch short game, and the criticism and analysis is only going to increase. Worse yet, his tournaments might decrease.

Woods has plunged to No. 56 in the world and is not eligible for the World Golf Championship at Doral next month. He typically would play the Honda Classic and Doral in consecutive weeks in south Florida, take a week off, play Bay Hill and then have two weeks off before the Masters.

If he doesn’t qualify for Doral, he would have only three tournaments – all of them with 36-hole cuts – before Augusta.

“If I happen to play well enough to get into Doral, then great,” Woods said. “I got four more rounds there. If I don’t, then still trying to peak for Augusta. … But I have to go out and earn my way there (Doral). I’m just going to have to play better than I did last week.”

The road to the Masters has never looked like such an uphill climb.

Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner at Torrey Pines and the longest rival to Woods, isn’t quite ready to write him off.

“I think that Tiger’s going to have the last laugh,” Mickelson said Wednesday. “I think that his short game, historically, is one of the best of all time. I think his golf game is probably the best of all time.”

Mickelson said the short-game woes are understandable because of how little Woods has played. The Phoenix Open was only his second tournament in six months after taking a break to fully heal from back surgery and to regain his strength. During his time off, Woods brought in a new swing consultant.

“I think the short game, when you haven’t played, it’s the first thing to feel uncomfortable and the quickest thing to get back,” Mickelson said. “I don’t think he’s going to have any problems, I really don’t. I think we all – myself included – have had stretches where we feel a little uncomfortable. We don’t hit it solid, and usually it’s just a small tweak, because it’s such a short swing that it’s not a hard thing to fix.

“I just don’t see that lasting more than a week or two.”

Woods starts on the North Course with Horschel and Fowler. The North Course used to be the easier of the two courses. For Woods, nothing has come easily of late.

SAN DIEGO – One player not concerned about Tiger Woods and his golf game is his longtime rival – Phil Mickelson.

Woods is coming off the worst score of his PGA Tour career – 82 – last week in the Phoenix Open. He missed the cut by 12 shots, and it was the first time in his career that he missed the cut in two straight tour events, though they were played six months apart. Most disconcerting was how badly his short game looked.

With analysis on overdrive, the immediate chatter has shifted from whether Woods will match the Jack Nicklaus record of 18 majors (Woods has 14) to whether he can win three more regular PGA Tour events and match the record 82 won by Sam Snead.

“I think that Tiger’s going to have the last laugh,” Mickelson said Wednesday. “I think that his short game, historically, is one of the best of all time. I think his golf game is probably the best of all time.”

Mickelson said the short-game woes are understandable because of how little Woods has played. The Phoenix Open was only his second tournament in six months after taking a break to fully heal from back surgery and to regain his strength. During his time off, Woods began working with a new swing consultant, Chris Como.

“I think the short game, when you haven’t played, it’s the first thing to feel uncomfortable and the quickest thing to get back,” Mickelson said after his pro-am round at the Farmers Insurance Open. “I don’t think he’s going to have any problems, I really don’t. I think we all – myself included – have had stretches where we feel a little uncomfortable. We don’t hit it solid, and usually it’s just a small tweak, because it’s such a short swing that it’s not a hard thing to fix.

“I just don’t see that lasting more than a week or two.”

Mickelson also missed the cut at the Phoenix Open after a 76 in the second round. He tied for 24th in the Humana Challenge. He has gone 31 tournaments without a win dating to the British Open at Muirfield in 2013 for his fifth career major.

Mickelson and Woods have been rivals for some two decades, though it is one-sided. Because of Woods – and Mickelson not at his best when Woods was out with injury – Mickelson has never been No. 1 in the world, won a PGA Tour money title or been voted player of the year. He has 42 victories, putting him at No. 9 on the PGA Tour career list and still 37 wins short of Woods.

Mickelson said he has gone through spells of bad chipping and it comes back. Once the technical issues are solved, he said the confidence returns.

“It’s not like it’s a big concern,” Mickelson said. “As long as he’s healthy and as long as he can swing the club the way he’s swinging it, with the speed he’s swinging at, I think his game will come back pretty quickly.”

Charlie Sifford, who only wanted a chance to play and broke the color barrier in golf as the first black PGA Tour member, died Tuesday night, the PGA of America said.

Sifford, who recently had suffered a stroke, was 92. Details of his death and funeral arrangements were not immediately available.

PGA of America President Derek Sprague called Sifford “an uncommon and faithful servant.”

“His love of golf, despite many barriers in his path, strengthened him as he became a beacon for diversity in our game,” Sprague said. “By his courage, Dr. Sifford inspired others to follow their dreams. Golf was fortunate to have had this exceptional American in our midst.”

A proud man who endured racial taunts and threats, Sifford set modest goals and achieved more than he imagined.

Sifford challenged the Caucasian-only clause and the PGA rescinded it in 1961. He won the Greater Hartford Open in 1967 and the Los Angeles Open in 1969. He also won the 1975 Senior PGA Championship, five years before the Champions Tour was created.

His career was fully recognized in 2004 when he became the first black inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Last November, President Barack Obama presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer are the only other golfers who received that honor.

“Charlie won tournaments, but more important, he broke a barrier,” Nicklaus once said. “I think what Charlie Sifford has brought to his game has been monumental.”

The one goal that eluded him was a chance to play in the Masters, which did not invite its first black player until Lee Elder in 1975. Sifford remained bitter, though the pain was eased when Tiger Woods won the first of his four green jackets in 1997.

Woods often has said he would not have played golf if not for Sifford and other black pioneers.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that without Charlie, and the other pioneers who fought to play, I may not be playing golf,” Woods said in an email to The Associated Press late last year. “My pop likely wouldn’t have picked up the sport, and maybe I wouldn’t have either.”

The road was never easy.

Sifford was born on June 22, 1922 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He worked as a caddie and dominated the all-black United Golfers Association, winning five straight national titles. He longed to play against the best players, only to run into the same barriers that Teddy Rhodes and Bill Spiller faced – the Caucasian-only clause.

In his autobiography, “Just Let Me Play,” Sifford told of meeting Jackie Robinson in California about the time Robinson was trying to break the color barrier in baseball.

“He asked me if I was a quitter,” Sifford wrote. “I told him no. He said, `If you’re not a quitter, you’re probably going to experience some things that will make you want to quit.'”

During the 1952 Phoenix Open, one of the few events that blacks could play, Sifford found human feces in the cup when he got to the first green. He received death threats over the phone at the 1961 Greater Greensboro Open and heard racial slurs as he walked the fairways. He finished fourth, and didn’t quit.

He was beloved my some of golf’s biggest stars, including Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

During his induction ceremony, Sifford told of his first meeting with Palmer. They were playing in the 1955 Canadian Open at Weston Golf and Country Club and Sifford opened with a 63 to lead Palmer by one shot. He recalled Palmer standing in front of the scoreboard saying, “Charlie Sifford? How the hell did he shoot 63?”

“I’m standing right behind him,” Sifford said. “I said, `The same damn way you shot 64.’ That’s how we met.”

Palmer went on to win the Canadian Open that year.

Sifford also received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland for his career as a pioneer.

He often attended the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, not far from his home in Ohio. During an interview with the AP in 2000, Sifford said he was proud of the role in played in making the PGA Tour accessible to blacks.

“If I hadn’t acted like a professional when they sent me out, if I did something crazy, there would never be any blacks playing,” he said. “I toughed it out. I’m proud of it. All those people were against me, and I’m looking down on them now.”

SAN DIEGO – A group of PGA Tour caddies has filed a class-action lawsuit demanding that the tour compensate them for wearing bibs.

Some 80 caddies joined the federal suit filed Tuesday in Northern California. At issue is having to wear bibs that have the logo of the tournament sponsor. The caddies contend the PGA Tour is making $50 million off the sponsors while the caddies get nothing.

The lawsuit stems from a dispute that has been brewing for more than a year. It also says the tour has denied caddies access to health care and pension plans.

Named as the two class representatives were Mike Hicks, the caddie for Payne Stewart when he won his last U.S. Open, and Kenny Harms, who caddies for Kevin Na.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – With an eagle putt that looked as long as his golf journey around the world, Brooks Koepka surged into the lead and stayed there Sunday with a 5-under 66 to capture the Phoenix Open for his first PGA Tour victory.

Lingering for most of the final round, Koepka holed a 50-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the 15th hole and didn’t make any mistakes the rest of the way.

The victory ended a long, arduous road for the 24-year-old from Florida. With no status in America, Koepka played the Challenge Tour in faraway lands like Kazakhstan and Kenya, winning four times to earn his European Tour card and then validating his status as a rising star by winning the Turkish Open last year.

But winning at home brought the strongest validation.

“It feels amazing,” Koepka said after his one-shot win over Hideki Matsuyama, Masters champion Bubba Watson and Ryan Palmer.

Of the five players who had a share of the lead in a wild final hour at the TPC Scottsdale, Matsuyama had the last chance to catch Koepka until his 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole missed well to the right.

Martin Laird, who had a three-shot lead going into the final round, was tied with Koepka going to the 17th until he sprayed it well right into the gallery on the short par-4 hole and made bogey, and then pulled his tee shot into the water on the 18th and made double bogey. He closed with a 72.

Palmer shared the lead with a birdie on the 15th, but he had to settle for pars the rest of the way for a 66. So did Watson, who reached the front of the 17th green only to three-putt from just over 100 feet and made par. He closed with a 65.

Matsuyama, who holed out from 129 yards for eagle on the first hole and was the first player to catch up to Laird, took the lead with a beautiful pitch behind the green on the par-5 13th. He went 44 consecutive holes without a bogey until Matsuyama three-putted on the 14th hole, and he never recovered. He shot 67.

Koepka already was eligible for the Masters with his tie for fourth at the U.S. Open last summer, and his victory during the final stretch of the Race to Dubai in Europe last year raised his stock. The victory Sunday should put him at No. 19 in the world.

This was his second victory in his last four starts, both against strong fields.

Koepka had not played since the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa two months ago, taking a full month off away from his clubs and working hard over the last few weeks after a change to his putting stroke.

Back-to-back birdies near the end of the front nine kept him in range. A solid chip from behind the 13th green for a 4-foot birdie kept him within two shots of Matsuyama. And his fortunes changed mightily with his eagle putt on the 15th.

A Florida State alum who describes himself as “chill” had plenty of adrenaline pumping on the 17th hole when he hit 3-wood on the 322-yard hole onto the green and over the back. It came to rest on the red hazard line, a foot from going into the water. He chipped to about 12 feet and missed the birdie putt that might have clinched it.

And with the pressure of holding a one-shot lead as he went after his first PGA Tour win, Koepka smashed his driver 331 yards down the middle of the fairway.

Arizona State junior Jon Rahm closed with a 68 to tie for fifth. It was the best finish by a Sun Devil still on the golf team playing in the Phoenix Open. The previous best was a tie for 32nd by Phil Mickelson.

However, the top 10 does not get the Spaniard into Torrey Pines next week because he is an amateur.

Canada’s Graham DeLaet also cracked the top 10. The Weyburn, Sask. native finished with a share of 7th at 11-under.

The finish is DeLaet’s best since the RBC Canadian Open at Royal Montreal, where he also tied for 7th.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Martin Laird watched the ball disappear into the cup on the par-3 16th hole and put some elbow grease into his fist pump.

It certainly wasn’t the most exciting moment on golf’s most raucous hole. That belonged to Francesco Molinari, who made the first hole-in-one at the 16th on Saturday at the Phoenix Open since Tiger Woods in 1997.

But it was plenty important to Laird.

On the verge of dropping another shot and watching his lead dwindle, Laird followed that 10-foot par putt with a birdie on the 17th and another par save on the 18th to finish off a 3-under 68 and take a three-shot lead into the final round.

Next up is another round with a new pair from the next generation.

Laird, a 32-year-old Scot who has lived in Scottsdale the last 14 years, played in the final group Saturday with two 21-year-old rookies, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger. Chasing him Sunday will by Hideki Matsuyama, the 22-year-old from Japan who is No. 18 in the world, and 24-year-old power hitter Brooks Koepka.

“This might just be the way it is,” Laird said of the increasingly evident youth movement. “When they come out, they’re ready to go. They don’t need three or four years to get used to the tour life or used to the golf courses. I don’t think they get intimidated at all anymore.”

Laird was at 13-under 200 as he goes for his fourth PGA Tour victory.

Matsuyama, already with seven wins worldwide, birdied his last four holes to surge into contention with a 63. Koepka finally managed to find the fairways, made birdie on both par 5s on the back nine and shot 64. They were at 203 with Zach Johnson, who shot a 67.

Laird at least has a cushion, which might not have been the case without those key par putts, especially on the 16th.

He pulled his tee shot into the water on the par-5 15th and made bogey, which can feel like losing two shots. And then he stepped into the arena at the 16th, hit wedge at the flag from 133 yards and pulled it enough to go in a bunker. He blasted out to about 10 feet, though the putt had plenty of break.

“That was a big one,” he said. `You don’t want to make two bogeys in a row at two holes you’re looking at maybe making birdies on.”

He followed with a perfect pitch to 3 feet for birdie on the 17th, and finished his round with a 10-foot par save.

Molinari’s ace wasn’t for show. It carried him to a 64, and at 8-under 205, he was among 15 players still within five shots of the lead.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of that group was Jon Rahm of Spain, a junior at Arizona State playing this week on a sponsor’s exemption. He got the gallery on his side early, especially by wearing a Sun Devils jersey when he teed off on the 16th, and shot 66. Rahm was at 9-under 204, along with Ryan Palmer (68) and Thomas, who had four birdies over his last six holes to salvage a 69.

“I’m not surprised, but I didn’t expect it. Something between there,” Rahm said.

Laird played in the final group with Thomas and Berger, two players who were still in high school three years ago. That’s the way golf is shifting, players getting younger and more fearless. And that’s what Laird faces again on Sunday.

Matsuyama, who won the Memorial last year, was the first rookie to win the Japan Golf Tour money list. He played bogey-free, and it was his birdie streak at the end of the round that put him into contention. The best one of all was his 50-degree wedge into the 16th and a salute from the crowd.

Koepka is the Floridian who went to the far corners of the world to chase his card, starting at the Challenge Tour on Europe and then winning the Turkish Open last year. He was 3 over on the par 5s this week, his first tournament in nearly two months, and made up some ground Saturday. Koepka hit the fairway on two par 5s on the back nine, setting up simple up-and-down birdies, and he made birdie on the 17th.

“It’s just a little bit of rust, just not playing in two months,” Koepka said. “Felt like today I was finally comfortable. Being out there the last two days, it was almost like I was trying to find the driver a little bit.”

Even with an overcast sky and cool temperatures, TPC Scottsdale still had a big buzz. The hope was for a record attendance – as it had been all week – until Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both missed the cut. The attendance was 159,906, some 40,000 short of the record last year.

But it was loud enough, especially the final hour.

“It shouldn’t be a struggle to get your adrenaline going,” Laird said.

Six-shots off the lead is Canada’s Graham DeLaet. The Weyburn, Sask. native is 7-under and tied for 17th.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Rain wasn’t the only thing that put a damper on the Phoenix Open on Friday.

The rowdiest event on the PGA Tour goes into Super Bowl weekend without Tiger Woods, who had the worst score of his career and missed the cut by 12 shots. Also gone is Phil Mickelson, who had his worst round on the TPC Scottsdale in six years.

Martin Laird carried on nicely without them.

Once the rain stopped, Laird played his best golf and he doesn’t think that was a coincidence. He ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch until making his first bogey of the tournament on his final hole for a second straight 5-under 66.

That gave him a two-shot lead over Daniel Berger (69), with Justin Thomas (68) another shot behind. Both 21-year-old rookies received sponsor’s exemptions. A trio of Masters champions – Bubba Watson (71), Zach Johnson (70) and Angel Cabrera (69) were in the group four shots behind.

That’s not who the crowd came to see.

Woods was playing the Waste Management Phoenix Open for the first time in 14 years. “Welcome back!” the gallery shouted to him on Thursday. “Thanks for coming!” was the refrain on Friday as he walked off his final green with an 11-over 82.

It was his highest score in 322 official tournaments in his career.

“We all have days like this,” Woods said after a day unlike any other he has had in his career.

Mickelson had a 76, his highest score in this event since he opened with a 76 in 2009 and missed the cut. Neither are going to the Super Bowl. Mickelson flew home to San Diego, Woods to Florida, and both will meet up next week in Torrey Pines.

It was the first time since The Greenbrier Classic in 2012 that they missed the cut in the same event.

“Hopefully, we will be able to get it turned around for next week,” Mickelson said.

Laird would seem to thrive in such wet, chilly conditions based on his birth certificate alone. He was born in Scotland, though he played college golf at Colorado State and has been living in Arizona for the last 14 years. He didn’t even play a European Tour event until he had his PGA Tour card.

But living in Scottsdale, surely he has experience the occasional cold, steady rain like Friday.

“The weather is so good here, when the weather is like this we don’t play,” Laird said. “I really don’t remember a day where it’s just been that kind of drizzle. It was a very Scottish day today. We get rain, but it’s not sort of an all-day thing.”

Laird was at 10-under 132.

Look a little further down the leaderboard, and the absence of golf’s two biggest names – Woods and Mickelson – was another reminder that the sport is in the midst of a generational shift, assuming it hasn’t already happened.

Berger and Thomas are proudly part of the class of `11 – that’s high school, not college.

They played often together as juniors and at college – Berger at Florida State, Thomas at Alabama. Berger made it through Q-school after two years of college and easily earned his card through the Web.com Tour. Thomas did the same after leaving Alabama.

Not too far back was Canada’s Graham DeLaet. He scrambled his way to a 70 and was six shots behind.

Woods either stubbed his chips or bladed them, the worst of it coming from behind the fourth green. He had 35 feet to the flag, tried to hit a baby flop shot and sent it 47 yards away, leading to a double bogey.

Mickelson steadily dropped shots, tried to rally with a birdie on the 15th that put him one birdie away from making the cut, and then hit his tee shot in a bunker on the 17th that led to bogey. That bunker wasn’t even in play for Mickelson on Thursday, but the weather was such that players were hitting two or three clubs more.

Laird was part of the pack until his late run. He made a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 13th, hit wedge to a foot for birdie on the par-5 15th, and then made 7-foot birdie putts on the next two holes to give himself a little separation.

Ryan Palmer (72) and Ryan Moore (67) were in the group at 136, while Geoff Ogilvy (69) was among those five shots behind.

Fifteen players failed to finish the round before darkness. That included Arizona club pro Michael Hopper, who had no chance of making the cut. With two holes to play, he was at 12 over and needed to finish two pars to beat Woods.

And that would be another personal-worst for Woods. He has never finished last in a PGA Tour event.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Tiger Woods never shot a score this high in his 1,267 official rounds as a pro.

He never looked more lost on a golf course.

Woods hit wedges fat and thin, but never close. He hit one drive into the water, another into the base of a desert bush. And when he missed a 10-foot par putt on his final hole Friday in the Phoenix Open, he had the worst score of his career – an 11-over 82.

Woods was in last place when he headed home to Florida to try to fix a game in disarray, even behind Arizona club pro Michael Hopper, who had yet to tee off. It was the first time in his career that he missed the cut in consecutive PGA Tour events, the most recent one in August at the PGA Championship.

About the only thing he didn’t lose was his sense of humor.

“I’m just doing this so I don’t get fined,” Woods said with a smile as he faced the media, repeating Marshawn Lynch’s only line at Super Bowl media day.

Even so, this round might have been more painful than getting his tooth knocked out last week in Italy.

His previous worst score was an 81 in the third round at Muirfield in the 2002 British Open, where he caught the brunt of whipping rain in 40 mph wind. There was only a light drizzle in the Valley of the Sun, and Woods hit a low point in his career.

“We all have days like this,” Woods said. “Unfortunately, mine was in a public forum. We take the good with the bad, and the thing is, even on bad days like this, just keep fighting. On the good days, you’ve got to keep fighting, as well.”

He attributed his shocking play to his latest swing change, which he described in December as “new but old,” although this game resembles neither. He left Sean Foley during his four-month break to fully heal from back surgery and now has California-based Chris Como as a swing consultant.

“I was caught right between patterns, just old pattern, new pattern,” Woods said. “And I got better, more committed to what I was doing on my back nine and hit some better shots. But still got a lot of work to do.”

He scrapped plans to go to the Super Bowl and headed home to Florida to practice before returning next week to Torrey Pines.

The most glaring weakness remains the short game – chips, bunker play and putting.

Nothing was uglier than the par-3 fourth hole when his tee shot went over the green. The chip was difficult because he short-sided himself and was only 35 feet from the flag. Woods hit it 47 yards, the ball shooting low and hot all the way across the green and into a front bunker. He blasted out to 20 feet and two-putted for double bogey.

That was on his back nine, and by then, the only question was whether he would post the highest score of his career.

The damage came early.

Woods pulled his tee shot into the desert on the tough 14th hole and it turned into a scavenger hunt. He headed toward a ball on the left side of the desert only to realize it wasn’t his – it was Mike Weir’s tee shot on the 13th hole. He stepped into a bed of cactus, reached gingerly through the needles to get the ball and realized that wasn’t his, either. His was found at the base of a bush, and he had to take a penalty stroke to remove it.

Then, a stock pitch shot from short of the green barely reached the putting surface, and he two-putted from 40 feet for double bogey.

In the gray morning sky of light drizzle, he didn’t realize until after his tee shot on the 15th that it never cleared the water. Woods hit a mid-iron for his fourth shot into a left bunker, and then bladed that out so far over the green that only the rough on the other side kept it from going in the water. He flubbed that chip and took triple bogey.

The atmosphere on the par-3 16th was slightly muted, though that didn’t keep a row of rowdies in the bleachers from wearing ski masks over their faces, a tribute to the mask Woods was wearing in Italy to hide his missing tooth. He was watching girlfriend Lindsey Vonn win a record 63rd World Cup race.

Jordan Spieth, playing in the group with Woods and Patrick Reed, had a 68. Both are among several young players who grew up watching Woods dominate golf with 14 majors and 79 wins on the PGA Tour. They did not see him shoot 82.

“Sure, it’s odd,” Spieth said. “But it’s his second tournament in six months. He’s really revamping his golf swing and just seems like he needs some more repetitions. From the looks of it, he looks very healthy, looks like nothing was bothering him. So he should be able to get out there and get a lot of practice in. I would look for him to make a strong comeback this year.”

Woods played the Phoenix Open for only the fourth time, and the first time since 2001. He still managed to generate plenty of memories. There was the hole-in-one on the 16th hole in 1997, the fans moving a 1,000-pound boulder for him in 1999, a teenager throwing an orange across the green as he was putting in 2001.

And now an 82.

The support remained strong, but the message changed. What began on Thursday as “Welcome back,” turned into, “Thanks for coming.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Tiger Woods helped attract a record, raucous crowd to the Phoenix Open on Thursday, the first big event in a week that concludes with the Super Bowl.

They didn’t see much game – at least not from Woods.

In his first appearance at the TPC Scottsdale in 14 years – and only his second tournament in six months – Woods couldn’t hit the green with three chip shots and was near the bottom of the leaderboard until two key shots on the back nine salvaged a 2-over 73.

It was the first time in his career that Woods shot over par in his first round of the year. And he already was nine shots behind Ryan Palmer, who opened with a 7-under 64 to build a one-shot lead when play was suspended by darkness.

“This is my second tournament in six months, so I just need tournament rounds like this where I can fight through it, turn it around, grind through it and make adjustments on the fly,” Woods said.

He was 5 over through 11 holes when Woods hit a 5-iron to a foot for a tap-in eagle on the 13th hole. After making it through the par-3 16th hole, where he twice had to back off shots when someone shouted as he stood over the ball, he hit his best drive of the day that bounded onto the green at the par-4 17th and set up a two-putt birdie.

The fans didn’t seem to mind. They were happy to see golf’s biggest star at their outdoor party for the first time since 2001, back when Woods was No. 1 in the world and headed for an unprecedented sweep of the majors.

The attendance was 118,461 – more than the Super Bowl will get on Sunday – and broke the Thursday record at the Phoenix Open by just over 30,000.

What they saw was a player who suddenly has developed grave issues with his short game – particularly his chipping.

Woods is working with a new swing consultant, Chris Como, who is not in Phoenix this week. He still has trouble taking his game from the practice range to the golf course, which is nothing new. But when he last played, at the Hero World Challenge, what stood out was a series of chips that he either stubbed or bladed.

Two months later, nothing changed.

The focus on Woods quickly shifted from a chipped tooth to simply his chipping.

Woods twice chipped with 4-irons, which he called my “old-school shots from Augusta.” On two other occasions, one after a chip he knocked across and over the green, he opted for a putter. It wasn’t a bad play, but it used to be rare to see Woods choose to putt from the fairway instead of chip.

He attributed it to the change in his swing.

“I’m 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 it’s hard to trust. Some of my shots were into the green with tight pins and either I’ll flop it or bump it, one of the two. I chose to bump it.”

Palmer was 10-under par through 10 holes last week in the Humana Challenge and settled for a 61. He was 7 under through 12 holes on Thursday and then closed with six straight pars for a 64.

That gave him a one-shot lead over Keegan Bradley, who made seven birdies in the morning, and Masters champion Bubba Watson, whose tee shot on the 17th hole rolled a few inches from the cup and settled 4 feet away.

Woods was in the group ahead of him, and it’s customary for players to step aside when they’re on the 17th green to let the others hit their tee shots. Woods smiled when Watson approached and told him, “Good shot.”

Watson also got caught up in the crowd, a benefit of playing so close to Woods.

“I could feel his crowd was really big,” Watson said. “You could feel it, the energy, even with the weather the way it was. People still showed up. People still had a blast. And obviously, Tiger created a lot of that.”

Bradley could sense it, too, even though he played on the opposite side of the draw. Bradley finished his round on No. 9 and hit what he thought was a great approach, except that he wasn’t sure because no one was clapping. He turned to his caddie and asked him if it went over the green, or maybe even short of the green. And then he walked up to the green and saw it was 10 feet away. That’s when the light came on.

“Tiger was on the second green. No one was watching me,” Bradley said with a laugh. “It’s just amazing to see the draw that Tiger has. Wow, there was a lot of people.”

They saw some good golf – just not very often from Woods.

The crowd rose to its feet as Woods walked from the putting green to the first tee, and the anticipation began to build when the starter announced him as the winner of 79 PGA Tour events and 14 majors. He had 24 wins and five majors the last time he played.

And then Woods sent his tee shot off the backyard wall of a house and back into the desert. He made the turn in 39 – his age.

But he didn’t have to chip again on the back nine, played better, hit two great shots (for eagle and birdie) and walked off with reasonable hopes of making it to the weekend. Woods hasn’t played much of late from back injuries and recovery time. Even so, he made it clear that it could take time to heal – certainly quicker than getting his teeth fixed.

Another player on his game Thursday was Canada’s Graham DeLaet.

DeLaet lives in Scottsdale. “It’s nice to be home and doesn’t really feel like a tournament week until you get out here,” DeLaet said after a 67. “Sleeping in your own bed is always great.”

The Weyburn, Sask. native carded a 4-under 67.

Cory Renfrew – a Monday qualifier – was the only other Canadian to sit on the better side of par Thursday. The Victoria, B.C. native was 1-under with one hole remaining Thursday.