In a shocking development as Thursday's first round of the CA Championship at the Doral course drew to a close, Tiger Woods missed a four-foot putt for par on the 18th green. More predictably, the world No. 1 was still well-placed to win his eighth successive event after signing for a five-under-par 67. That was good enough to leave Woods tied for fourth place in the second of the season's world golf championships alongside Phil Mickelson, the three-time major champion, world No. 2 and current holder of the “last man on earth to beat Tiger” trophy. The two Americans ended the day two shots adrift of the joint leaders, Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy (seven-under-par rounds of 65), and one ahead of a cavalry charge of players that included Luke Donald and two of the brightest young European talents, Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher. The unfancied Jimenez ended his round with an excellent 16-foot putt for birdie on the 18th. Dane Anders Hansen and Australians Adam Scott and Nick O'Hern also shot 67, along with world number two Phil Mickelson. Ogilvy, who was five under after the opening nine holes and remained bogey free, was delighted with his performance. “I played well, I drove the ball well which is important here because the rough is not very nice, it takes all the spin off the ball and you can hit some funny shots out of it. I didn't hit it in the rough much,” said the Australian. Woods, who has not lost since September, was unimpressed with his display on a course where he has enjoyed plenty of success. “I didn't really do anything special. I just kind of hung in there and took care of the par-fives and made a few birdies but all in all just kind of ground it out,” he said. The 32-year-old has won the last three events on the Blue Monster course at Doral - last year's WGC-CA and the final two years of the Doral Open. But he was clearly disappointed to have taken three putts on the final hole. “You three-putt 18 you are not going to be real happy. They don't feel good especially when you have bad speed. That first putt was bad speed,” he said. Mickelson, who won the Northern Trust Open in February but has been below his best lately, was pleased that his putting improved throughout the day. “It was a good start, I ended up birdieing four holes coming in which made the round for me,” he said. “After last week's performances on the greens, it was important to get a few to go in. That gives me some confidence.” Ten players finished on four under par, including American Mark Calcavecchia, Britain's Luke Donald, Japanese pair Toru Taniguchi and Ryuji Imada and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh. __
