LA JOLLA -- Sometimes, even the best golfer in the universe doesn't know how good he is. Sometimes, Tiger Woods sets a goal and then exceeds it.
That's what happened here Friday, in the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at the Torrey Pines Golf Course and Torture Emporium.
Woods, who had knee surgery after the Masters and was supposed to be damaged goods for this Open, showed an occasional limp as he played his opening nine, the back nine at Torrey, in two-over-par 38.
He wasn't a happy camper as he left the par-five 18th green, his ninth hole of the day.
"I bogeyed 16 and 17, made mistakes on both holes," he said. "And then, with 18 playing as easy as it can, I didn't birdie that."
He was three over par for the tournament at that stage, and while his competition wasn't exactly burning up the course, Woods was struggling too. The difference is he is a 32-year-old veteran with 13 major titles to his name and complete knowledge of how those came to pass.
"I just had to be patient," he said.
"To be honest with you, I was just trying to get back to even par for the tournament."
That was the goal.
Then he birdied four of the first five holes on the back, his card for that span reading 3-3-3-3-3, and he ended up shooting a 30 for a 68. That put him two under for the tournament and one shot behind leader Stuart Appleby's 139.
Somebody in the news conference afterward actually asked Woods if he had looked back at his back-nine 30, saw places where he might have done better and had any regrets about that.
To his credit, Woods laughed and said the 30 was just fine.
For those who don't follow golf or know the history of how the United States Golf Assn. sets up its courses for its national championship, a score of 30 may not resonate.
For perspective, consider that some of these holes are so long that several have been designated as alternate landing spots if San Diego International Airport is fogged in. Mothers have been warned to keep children out of the rough because they may never see them again.
The only hope for the golfers, especially by Sunday, is that some of the long stuff will be well trampled by then.
There are so many spectators here, many of them brainlessly hollering "in the hole!" after every shot, that one wonders how business in downtown San Diego is doing during the day. They reportedly are selling 42,000 tickets here every day, and the best guess is that there have been zero no-shows.
