Woods lurking at Doral

DORAL, Fla. -- A true attempt to beat Tiger Woods now takes consistent low scoring for four days, and sometimes even that isn’t enough -- see Bart Bryant at Bay Hill last week.

That’s why the three players who outscored Woods in Thursday’s first round of the CA Championship at Doral have good reason to remain patient.

It’s early.

“I wasn’t really interested in beating Tiger today,” said Geoff Ogilvy, the co-leader at seven-under-par 65 with Miguel Angel Jimenez. “I would like to beat him after four rounds.”

Woods sits two strokes back with Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Nick O’Hern and Anders Hansen at 67 on a day with all-around low scoring on Doral’s Blue Monster Course. Stewart Cink, coming off two consecutive second-place finishes, is one stroke behind the leaders.

Woods won at Doral with a 10-under score in 2007 while fighting heavy winds. He has won eight of his last nine tournaments, including a European Tour event in Dubai, and nine of 10 overall including the unofficial Target World Challenge.

Eighteen players posted a score of four under or better in the first round, with 44 from the 79-player event finishing under par.

Ten players are tied for ninth at 68.

Ogilvy, who started the season missing three cuts shortly after his wife had a child, made three birdies for a five-under performance on the front nine. Woods, meanwhile, missed three putts from seven feet or closer Thursday, including a five-footer on 18 for a three-putt bogey.

This comes a week after Woods made a habit of saving pars and sinking birdies with six- and seven-footers. In the interview room, Woods replaced his toothy smile with a stoic glare.

“You three-putt 18, you’re not going to be real happy,” he said.

Players finished most of Thursday’s round before a rain storm hit at around 5 p.m. Ogilvy still made it pour with seven birdies and no bogeys as he looks for his second top-10 finish of the year.

If this turns into a shootout, the winner will probably need to reserve an impressive score for the final round. But Cink says it’s important to not get caught up in chasing the guy in the Nike red on Sundays.

“I’m sure by the time I go to the golf course tomorrow I’m sure I’ll know exactly what Tiger shot, but I’m not trying to stay ahead of him,” Cink said. “This is a golf course where you have to play the course itself and just try like heck all the way until the very last putt. If you’ve done it in less strokes than everybody else, congratulations. Otherwise you have to go work harder.”

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Bo Van Pelt shot an eight-under 64 to take the first-round lead in the inaugural Puerto Rico Open at Rio Grande.

Ted Purdy and Kyle Thompson opened with 66s on the Trump International Golf Club course.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.