Woods four strokes behind Sposa at Buick Open

GRAND BLANC, Mich. (AP) -- Tiger Woods is still searching for the swing he'll need to win a major this year.

Woods did close strong Thursday for a 3-under 69, but he was four strokes behind Mike Sposa after the opening round of the Buick Open.

Woods, the defending champion, bogeyed his first and 10th holes before finishing with three birdies over his last six. He is tuning up for the PGA Championship in two weeks, his last chance this season to win a major.

"I hit some pretty ugly shots," Woods said. "I putted well, thank God."

Carl Paulson, Craig Perks, David Sutherland and Paul Gow were one shot behind Sposa, who missed the cut in four of his last five tournaments. Ten others were at 5 under at Warwick Hills.

Ben Curtis, playing in his first tournament since winning the British Open, was among a slew of players at 68 with U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and John Daly.

Curtis said it was "pretty cool" to be introduced as the British Open champion.

"I was a little nervous," said Curtis, who has jumped from No. 396 to 33rd in the world rankings. "I just wanted to make sure I hit a good drive. I hit it fairly decent. It was very exciting.

"Once I got out there I felt really relaxed. I enjoyed myself."

Sposa did not distinguish himself on the front nine, shooting a 1-under 35. But he jumped to the top of the leaderboard by playing the next seven holes in 6 under.

He eagled the 340-yard, par-4 12th by holing out from 114 yards and had four birdies on the back nine. Sposa's 65 was his lowest round since shooting a 63 in May at the HP Classic in New Orleans, where he finished tied for 16th.

Sposa's best showing this season was a tie for 10th at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson in March. His lone professional victory was on the Nike Tour in 1998 and his best-career finish on the PGA Tour was a tie for fourth last year in New Orleans.

Sposa said Curtis' improbable win two weeks ago gave him hope.

"Ben Curtis, for a guy like me, is really going to turn the light on," said Sposa, No. 141 on the money list.

"I thought he was a European Tour player. I saw his name on Saturday and I didn't even know he played our tour."

Woods used his old Titleist driver in a tournament for the first time since replacing it with a Nike driver 18 months ago. He made the change to give him more control, while sacrificing some distance.

But Woods said he was not comfortable with his swing -- using any club -- and it showed at No. 1, his 10th hole of the day.

After his drive went 271 yards and into the rough to the right of the fairway near some trees, he worked on his backswing and the start of his downswing twice while his playing partners walked down the fairway. Woods wasn't far from the tee box when he stopped and worked on the same swing mechanics.

"I just didn't trust my swing a lot of times," Woods said. "I tried to just steer it in play and consequently, I didn't get it in play. The times I stepped up there and just let it go and trusted the move I've been working on, it was fine.

"I'm not where I want to be, but I know that today was a lot of work to try and shoot the score I shot."

Woods is attempting to be the first repeat champion of the Buick Open since Tony Lema repeated at Warwick Hills, 60 miles north of Detroit, in 1965.

2001 Buick Open champion Kenny Perry, who has three wins and three top 10 finishes in his last six tournaments, joined Woods and Vijay Singh at 3 under.

Peter Jacobsen shot a 75. The 49-year-old won for the first time since 1995 at last week's Greater Hartford Open.