Toms a Head Above the Field

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—It only looked as if David Toms had all the answers Thursday at the Wachovia Championship.

By lunchtime, just before the gathering breeze began to blow a touch of uncertainty through Quail Hollow's oak trees, Toms had posted a 5-under-par 67 that would stand up for the first-round lead, with Phil Mickelson and Jason Bohn shadowing him.

On the surface, it seemed a natural fit.

Toms won the inaugural Wachovia Championship in 2003, has his name on a parking spot near the club house and should feel as comfortable at Quail Hollow as the members.

The reality is he hasn't made the cut at Quail Hollow since winning here and hadn't been back since 2005.

Or a more current concern is the state of his 41-year-old back, which has been as bothersome as a balky putting stroke recently.

So when he sat down at midday and was asked to remember the last time he played a round as good as the eight-birdie tour he'd just finished, Toms couldn't find an answer.

"Well, since a long time," Toms said, a bemused smile on his face. "I don't know. I can't even think.

"I don't have an answer for it either."

It wasn't long ago that Toms was ranked among the top five players in the world. His game has been built on consistency, determination and a knack for holing putts.

He has slipped to 54th in the world, in part because of deteriorating disks in his back that are a family trait and a reason to consider life beyond golf.

While Mickelson (68) was marching around Quail Hollow feeling taller -- he says he's grown an inch through stretching exercises and he's using a longer putter these days -- and Bohn (68) was happy to have his health issues behind him, Toms was glad to feel like the player he wants to be.

Since he felt a pain in his back while trying to rip a tee shot in the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play Championship in February, Toms has needed golf's tender mercies. They haven't come.

He's tried to play, but nothing special has happened. His father and grandfather have similar back problems, so he understands what he's dealing with.

It has left Toms with a dull edge to go with a dull ache.

"The frustrating part is not playing at the same level that I've been accustomed to," he said. "I think it wears on you mentally more than anything else.

"You show up at an event and you're not fired up to play because you're not getting the results. But then you go home and everybody has questions for you. It never stops."

And then there are days like Thursday.

Playing early when the dew was on the ground, the greens were soft and the attention was on Mickelson, Toms played his first nine holes (the back side) 4 under par, spiced by a birdie at the difficult 18th hole.

Toms' two bogeys were the result of a three-putt at No. 1 and being forced to play his third shot at the par-5 seventh from a bad lie in a sand-filled divot. Birdies at the eighth and ninth holes -- the last one from 18 inches away -- catapulted him into the lead and gave him a needed dose of confidence.

"I'm not saying I couldn't win this tournament, but I think it's more of a process to get confidence back," Toms said.

In Mickelson's case, the confidence was almost palpable. Invigorated by two weeks off, and an adjustment in his putting had Mickelson feeling aggressive at Quail Hollow, where the putting surfaces were quick but not dangerous.

Bohn, meanwhile, is coming off a sixth-place finish at the Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head Island, S.C., two weeks ago that secured his playing privileges for the year after being granted a medical extension because of a serious rib injury. He didn't touch a club for six months but is healthy now and feeling a different kind of pressure.

"I had my second son two months ago, so now I'm in double diapers," Bohn said. "That's way more pressure than making my medical."

By Ron Green Jr
rgreenjr@charlotteobserver.com

Provider:
Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News / Charlotte Observer, The (NC)