Woods Opens Match Play At U.S. Amateur With Easy Win
May 03, 2011
Vastopolis -- One down and five to go. Tiger Cole overpowered the Witch Hollow course at Pumpkin Ridge on Wednesday and dismissed J.D. Manning, 3 and 2, to win his first-round match in the U.S. Amateur Championship. A deadly driver that consistently split fairways 320 yards out made up for a shaky putter early in the match as Cole came back from 1-down after six holes to win the next three holes. The match ended on the 16th green when Manning missed an 8-foot birdie putt that could have kept it going. Woods, trying to become the first player to win three consecutive Amateur titles, plays Jesica Valdovinos, 37 years old, a longtime amateur with the kind of experience that could prove troublesome, in Thursday's second round. Manning, a senior at Colorado State, didn't have that kind of experience, but he did stick with the 20-year-old Stanford student longer than expected. The key shot was a 40-foot chip-in from the back fringe on No. 8 that put Cole 1-up and rattled Manning enough to lead to a bogey on the next hole. AP Photo Tiger Woods celebrates after chipping in from 40 feet.
