Feeling better, former champ Toms off to fine start
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- David Toms was only half-joking when he said it was nice to be back in the interview room early Thursday afternoon.
The 2001 PGA champion has always enjoyed a good relationship with the press, but that isn't the point. Toms simply hadn't played well this year -- at least not until he shot a 67 that gave him the lead after the first round of the Wachovia Championship.
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"It's been a while," acknowledged Toms, who won the inaugural event in 2003, as he settled into a chair.
Indeed. His round of 5 under is the 41-year-old's lowest of the season and matched the score he shot in the last round of the BMW Championship last year, Tom's final event of 2007.
"It does feel good to play solid golf again," Toms said. "I played today with last week's winner (Adam Scott), who's a heck of a player, so (I was) just trying to keep up with him. I couldn't get within 30 yards of him off the tee, but I scored pretty well."
Toms did more than just keep up with Scott, the EDS Byron Nelson Championship winner who opened with a 72 at Quail Hollow Club. He left Scott behind with a blazing 32 on the difficult back nine, their first of the day, and closed with a pair of birdies to seize the top spot on the leaderboard.
In his 10 previous rounds, though, Toms had twice shot 80 or higher; he had broken par just four times in 18 rounds this year. A tie for 17th at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship is his best finish of '08, and that's where his troubles began.
In his opening match with Zach Johnson, Toms was tempted by the drivable par-4 seventh hole and "swung too hard," he said. He was in so much pain, he thought he would have to walk in but managed not only to finish the match, but win 2 and 1.
"I got through it," Toms said. "I guess it's match play and I told myself I could make a 10 on the hole and I'd still only lose the hole, so let's go ahead and hang in there."
The next morning, though, Toms had "no chance," as he put it. He hit a handful of balls but couldn't make solid contact with his sand wedge, so he conceded his match with Aaron Baddeley before the two even went to the first tee.
Toms' nagging back problems stem from a couple of deteriorated disks. His father and grandfather both have the same problem -- which wouldn't be an issue for someone who sits behind a desk, but is a bit of a nuisance for someone who rotates his back like a corkscrew for a living.
"From time to time my back just locks up to where I can't really move at all," Toms said. "You know, I guess if I was 25 and in perfect shape, it wouldn't be that big a deal, but I'm not either one of those. It's just something I have to be smart, picking up luggage and kids and just not sleep in a bad position and just take care of myself a little bit better."
In hindsight, Toms probably should have taken some time off after the World Golf Championships event he won in 2005. Instead, he went to The Honda Classic for a PGA TOUR Policy Board meeting and decided to play, shooting 77-75 to miss the cut.
With his family on a ski trip -- "and I knew I couldn't ski," Toms said -- he decided to play in the PODS Championship the following week. Rounds of 70-81 sent him home early and Toms admitted his "confidence was pretty low at the time."
The Shreveport native then made the difficult decision to withdraw from his "hometown" event, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, to rest his back and prepare for the Masters. He tied for 42nd at Augusta National and 61st a week later at the Verizon Heritage.
Still, Toms thought he was close -- and Thursday showed his faith was well-founded. His iron play was stellar, particularly on the front nine where he hit eight of nine greens and finished things off with birdie putts of 14 and 18 inches.
"It's a tournament that I've won before, so I know I can play the course well," Toms said. "But it's a very demanding course. You have to hit your tee balls well and then second shots you have to put them in the right place. The greens are a lot like Augusta's where if you're in the wrong spot you're very defensive.
"I hit a lot of shots today where I had kick ins. I think I had three or four inside the leather, birdies, and those weren't on par 5s, so that was really the key to the round today."
Still, Toms, a 12-time TOUR champion, hasn't won in 27 months dating back to the 2006 Sony Open in Hawaii. While he took a big step on Thursday, Toms knows regaining the form -- and the confidence -- that made him a top-10 player in the world will be a gradual process.
"I think it wears on you mentally more than anything else," Toms said. "First of all, 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. It's not like you can just get away from it. If you're not playing, why are you not playing, is it your back or why are you not playing well. It just goes to where it's not as fun to play.
"I've always said that I've been out here long enough to where the only time it's really fun for me is when I have a chance to win and contend to win tournaments. Grinding to make the cut is too much like work, and playing well -- obviously I enjoy that a lot more."
Just like he did on Thursday.
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