Fan arrested for tossing hot dog at Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods shot a final-round 68 at the Frys.com Open.

Tiger Woods made a charge early in Sunday's final round of the Frys.com Open.

Then he had to get out of the way of a hot dog.

RESULTS: Frys.com Open leaderboard

In a bizarre incident on the seventh green — Woods' 16th hole on the day — Woods was lining up his birdie putt when an unidentified male spectator came running toward the green. Woods, who finished in a tie for 30th, looked up and said he saw a hot dog flying in the air which the man had thrown. Santa Clara sheriff's deputies quickly got the man, handcuffed him and arrested him for disturbing the peace.

"I guess he wanted to be in the news," Woods said. "And I'm sure he will be."

Woods, who hasn't won anywhere in the world the past 23 months and was making his first Tour start in seven weeks, heated up quickly on a cool morning as the last of a heavy fog drifted away over the hills. With birdies on five of his first eight holes, Woods got within five shots of the lead and into a tie for ninth.

But his momentum stalled around the turn, as he made bogey on his 11th and 14th holes before closing with a final-hole birdie to finish with a third consecutive 68. He finished the event at 7-under-277 in a tie for 30th.

Bryce Molder earned his first PGA Tour title after beating Briny Baird on the sixth hole of a playoff. Molder shot a final-round 64 to tie third-round leader Baird (67) at 17-under 267.

The most exciting occurrence on his final holes came at the par-3 seventh, when the spectator walked under the gallery ropes, ran toward the green yelling "Tiger, Tiger," and threw a hot dog, which, while the bun fell to his feet, flew across Woods' putting line and onto playing partner Arjun Atwal's putting line. The fan, who got within 40 feet of Woods, was handcuffed and arrested for disturbing the peace, according to police. His name was not released, but police said he was 31.

Woods was lining up his putt at the time and missed.

"I don't know how he tried to throw (the hot dog), but I was kind of focusing on my putt when he started yelling," Woods said. "It looked like he wanted to be arrested, really, because he laid on the ground, put his hands behind his back and turned his head. So it was one of those things. It was bizarre."

Woods is next scheduled to play in the Australian Open beginning Nov. 10, followed by the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne. Woods said family obligations will keep him from playing in the final two Tour starts, including the season-ending event at Disney.

"Unfortunately, a couple times I kind of didn't get the momentum going when I had a couple of chances to make putts or I hit a bad shot," Woods said. "I could have just really got it rolling, and I had a couple opportunities like that, both yesterday and again today.

"I got better every day. And I hit a lot of good putts the last three days, which is good. I felt very comfortable. I just need to keep staying the course. The game's coming."

Woods in middle of the pack despite another 68

Tiger Woods pulled to within three strokes of the lead at one point but settled for a 3-under 68 on Saturday.

Tiger Woods put together back-to-back rounds in the 60s for the first time since the start of the season. It wasn't enough Saturday at the Frys.com Open, and Woods knew it.

After making a mess of the par 3s, Woods had to settle for a 3-under 68 that put him in the middle of the pack.

Woods was the first to tee off — on the back nine — and while two straight birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 pulled him within three shots, the leaders were in the group ahead of him and just getting started.

It was too beautiful of a day at CordeValle, with bright sunshine and barely a breeze. The pins were accessible. Everyone was making birdies. Woods didn't make enough.

"The golf course could have been had today," Woods said. "Guys can take it deep out there."

In his first PGA Tour event in seven weeks — and his last official PGA Tour event of the year — Woods was still wading in water. After back-to-back birdies early in his round, he had a chip from just off the green at No. 16 lip out of the cup, then didn't come close to driving the green on the par-4 17th even though it required a straight tee shot to a pin in the middle of the putting surface.

He was at 5-under 208, and likely to have too many players ahead of him to make a run in the final round.

Woods at least broke 70 in back-to-back rounds for the first time since his 69-69 start at Torrey Pines in his first tournament of the year. He finished poorly that week and tied for 44th.

Woods missed nearly four months with left leg injuries he suffered at the Masters, and said he didn't have enough time to practice when he returned to play poorly in two events. He failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, giving him a nearly two-month break.

"I was very close to really putting it together on the front nine — birdie 17 and 18, and all of a sudden, I'm 5 under," Woods said.

He didn't, and he wasn't.

His tee shot on the 17th, which played only 294 yards over a pond, was pulled badly to the left in deep grass around a bunker, and Woods chopped it out across the green. He hit two good shots on the 18th, only to miss an 8-foot birdie putt.

"It's getting better," Woods said. "I'm improving day by day, which is good. Obviously, tomorrow I need to improve a lot and make the putts and post a really low one tomorrow."

Tiger shoots 68 to get to 1-under at Frys.com Open

Tiger Woods, making an approach shot on the 12th hole today

We live-blogged Tiger Woods' second round at the Frys.com Open Friday. He rebounded from Thursday's round of 73 with a 3-under second round of 68 and is 1-under for the tournament at the CordeValle Golf Club in the hills south of San Jose. Play was stalled for more than two hours by fog.

6:02: So Tiger will play on the weekend as he avoids missing the cut in back-to-back tournaments for the first time in his career. We'll wind up Friday's live blog with his comments to the Golf Channel:

Assessing his 3-under round of 68: "Well today I hit the ball as good as I did yesterday, but I putted good. I had one bad putt today . . . I blocked that one out. Other than that I was pure on every line. That's a positive."

On concentrating on every shot: "You know sometimes I have these lulls out there where I don't feel comfortable and I have to battle through it . . . I had one tough period out there, but I battled through it." (That's a reference to bogeys on his ninth and 10th holes of the day, before rebounding with one of his six birdies.)

And his overall evaluation: "It's getting good. My feels are coming back. My balls are pin high, which is good."

5:47: Tiger's 41-footer for eagle is way short on No. 9, leaving him a 5-footer for birdie. He nails that, for his sixth birdie of the day and has a 3-under round of 68 that gets him to 1-under for the tournament.

5:38: Tiger is on the par-5 ninth green in two after hitting a towering approach. Even though he has a one-shot cushion on the projected cut line, he perhaps really needs this par. Conditions are really good right now, and a lot of the field has yet to play. So there could be plenty of good scoring that could move the cut line to even par, which is where Tiger is.

5:32: Solid tee shot by Tiger on No. 9. One of his few good ones today.

5:26: Tiger can't cash the birdie chance. He goes right from five feet and has to settle for par. One hole left for him, and he has a one-stroke cushion on the cut line.

5:19: Great tee shot for Tiger on the 478-yard eighth, 270 yards down the middle. He follows that with a 5-iron to within 5 feet of the cup. Great chance to get into the red numbers here.

5:11: Tiger survives trouble on No. 7. His 9-iron tee shot on the par-3 left him a 40-footer for birdie. He nearly sank that, hitting the right lip, but it rolled 7 feet past. Tiger took a long time studying that downhill putt, and put it in the middle of the cup.

5:04: At even par with three holes to go, Tiger is in good shape to make the cut, which is projected at +1. If he were to miss it, it would be the first time in his career that he has missed cuts in consecutive tournaments. He failed to make the cut at the PGA Championship in August.

4:58: Tiger flashes a big grin to the gallery as he walks to the sixth green. The Golf Channel says he's been surprisingly chatty today with the crowd. He makes an excellent try for birdie from 50 feet, over a ridge, but it stops two feet short. He taps in and stays at even par.

4:52: Nice recovery by Tiger, who's on the green in two at No. 6. He was hitting on a slope, with an awkward angle. But he'll have a very long putt for birdie.

4:48: Tiger goes way left with his tee shot on the par-4, 480-yard sixth hole. That's where almost all of his tee shots have headed today. He seemed to have it fixed after landing in the last two fairways, but now he's out there again.

4:43: Tiger's birdie bid on No. 5 from about 18 feet comes up a couple inches short. He taps in for a third straight par.

4:35: Tiger gets on the fairway at No. 5, the first time he's been there on back-to-back holes all day. He'll have an uphill putt from the fringe for birdie.

4:25: Tiger's birdie try on No. 4 arcs about an inch above the cup. He makes the tap for par and stays even for the tournament, tied for 47th.

4:20: On No. 4, Tiger finally has a tee shot land dead center in the fairway. That's only the second fairway he has hit through 13 holes. He follows it up with a solid approach, and will have about a 15-footer for birdie.

4:17: There definitely has been a Tiger Effect at the Frys.com Open. The crew at the Golf Channel says today's attendance is about 75,000. Before Tiger entered, 30,000 was the expected number. Also, the overnight cable TV rating for the Golf Channel's broadcast of the first round is 0.6, way up from last year's 0.2 for the same slot.

4:11: Tiger tries for a birdie from 25 feet on the par-3 third hole, but the putt drifts way left. He puts in a 2-footer to stay at even par.

4:05: Tiger gets it back together. He drains a 6-footer on No. 2 for a birdie. Puts him back at even par for the tournament, and -2 for today, through 11 holes.

4:02: Paul Casey now shares the lead at 6-under with Garrett Willis. Casey has had six birdies and one bogey today, through 12 holes.

3:52: Tiger's momentum cools. He needs to sink a 25-footer to save par on No. 1, and can't do it, missing by three inches. That's back-to-back bogeys, dropping him to +1 for the tournament, which is still the projected cut line.

3:42: Tiger's errant tee shot on No. 1 wound up on a slope, and the subsequent awkward shot likely tested his knee. He fell forward after striking the ball, then went running uphill and onto the fairway to see where it went.

3:34: Mood swing for Tiger. He has made the turn and just went left again with tee shot on No. 1. Tiger responded by throwing his club down. He still has been on the fairway only once, in 10 holes.

3:29: After taking his drop and penalty stroke, Tiger's approach shot goes just left of the green on 18. He chips to within 3 feet and makes that, for a bogey. That puts him back to -2 for the round and even par for the tournament.

3:21: That wayward tee shot with a 3-wood on 18 landed in a hazard and the ball couldn't be found. He takes a drop.

3:18: Tiger's tee shot is in a ditch on 18. The hunt is on for the ball. His tee shots have been his one problem today. Through nine holes, he's been on the fairway only once.

3:13: Tiger's birdie binge has moved him 53 places up from where he finished yesterday, to a tie for 33rd.

3:07: Tiger has a 7-footer for birdie on the 358-yard 17th, and just misses. He was left off the tee, which has been his one problem most of the day.

2:55: Tiger is suddenly on fire. He sinks a 3-foot putt on the 210-yard 16th hole for a third consecutive birdie. He's now 1-under for the tournament and 3-under for today's round. That's through seven holes, because he started on the back nine.

2:42: Tiger's tee shot finds another bunker, but he rebounds and has an 8-foot putt for birdie, which he drains. That's back-to-back birdies, to get him to even par for the tournament. He's 2-under today.

2:35: Garrett Willis has taken the lead by himself after two birdies on the last four holes. He's at -6 through six holes.

2:20: Tiger rebounds from that bogey with a huge birdie putt from about 25 feet on No. 14. That's a big momentum-builder as he heads for No. 15, which he birdied yesterday. He's back to +1 for the tourney, just under the projected cut.

2:04: Tiger's troubles with the sand traps continue. He tees off into a fairway bunker on No. 13, then hits into another one and takes a bogey. That drops him back to even par for the day, and 2-over for the tournament. Yesterday Tiger needed two strokes to get out of one bunker.

1:48: Tiger settles for par on No. 12, and stays at -1 for today through three holes, and +1 for the tournament. 1-over is still the projected cut.

1:42: Tiger gets past the hazard that claimed his ball yesterday. His tee shot on 12 goes 270 yards into the left rough, where he also landed yesterday. Then he lays up, 170 yards into the right fairway. He's 156 yards from the hole on the par 5.

1:31: Now Tiger confronts yesterday's disaster, at No. 12. This is where he hit into a hazard amid a driving rain, and took a double-bogey 7 on the 605-yard par 5.

1:27: Tiger cashes in on the birdie opportunity at No. 11. His tee shot landed four feet from the cup and he made the putt. That moves him to +1, and gets him under the projected cut.

1:22: If Tiger is going to get it going he has a good scoring chance as he begins his round on the back nine. The 11th is a 236-yard par 3.

1:16: Tiger has a 10-foot putt for birdie, but he slides it by on the right edge and settles for par on his first hole. He's still at +2 for the tournament, and at the moment the projected cut is +1.

1:10: Tiger's first tee shot flies 302 yards onto the right fairway. He's 102 yards from the hole. He's starting on the back nine today, so he's playing the 10th.

1:03: Tiger will tee off any second. Steve DiMeglio says he has put two pieces of lead tape on his putter. The putter betrayed him big time yesterday, on some very short putts.

12:36: Looks like that 1:00 ET tee time for Tiger might be for real. Play has resumed at the tournament, and the first groups have teed off.

12:32: Here we go again. Another delay has pushed Tiger's tee time to 1:00 ET.

12:20: Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the delay linger on, and now Tiger's tee time has been pushed back 10 more minutes, to 12:50 ET.

11:55: If indeed Tiger tees off at 12:40 ET that will mean his starting time was delayed by two hours.

11:53: Okay, this is getting a little ridiculous. USA TODAY golf writer Steve DiMeglio now reports officials have put off play again, and that Tiger will tee off at 12:40 ET.

11:42: Good news from the course. The sun has burned off enough of the fog to allow play to begin in about 15 minutes. Tiger's tee time is now scheduled for 12:10 ET.

11:15: Another 15 minutes has been added to the fog delay. That means the earliest Tiger will tee off is 11:55 ET. USA TODAY golf writer Steve DiMeglio says there's speculation the fog could linger for 2-3 hours, and that the second round won't be completed today.

11:09: USA TODAY golf writer Steve DiMeglio is in the media center, near the 13th fairway, and says the fog is so thick that he can't see past the fairway.

11:00: There is a fog delay. Tiger's tee time has been pushed back to 11:40 ET. He had been scheduled to go at 10:40.

Tiger Woods struggles again, ends up back in pack

More frustration for Tiger Woods, who opened with a 2-over 73 Thursday at the Frys.com Open.

Tiger Woods opened his Thursday round in the Frys.com Open with a birdie from 3 feet.

Not much else went right for the former world No. 1.

Striking his first competitive shot in a PGA Tour event in 54 days, Woods missed three putts within 5 feet, hit six shots out of bunkers and hit a layup shot on a par-5 into a hazard on his way to a 2-over-par 73 at soggy and cool CordeValle Golf Club in the first round of the first Fall Series event of the season.

RESULTS: Frys.com Open leaderboard

Hoping to make a strong return after missing the cut in the PGA Championship in his last Tour appearance — and thus missing the FedExCup playoffs — Woods must turn in a solid second round to make the cut. If he misses the cut, it would be the first time in his professional career he missed weekend play in consecutive starts on the Tour.

As for the lead, Woods is six shots behind pace-setting rookie Brendan Steele, Matt Bettencourt, Garrett Willis and Briny Baird, who is looking for his first Tour win in his 348th start. Woods, tied for 86th, even trails playing partner Patrick Cantlay, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world who shot 69. The top 70 and ties make the cut.

"That's probably one of the worst putting rounds I've ever had," Woods said. "I can't putt the ball worse than I did today. … Right now I'm six shots back, and I have to play a good round to get back into the tournament."

The speed of the greens bedeviled Woods the most.

"I just had a hard time hitting my stroke, and then I started altering it," said Woods, who had 27 putts. "And it was all over the place. I think I'm going to go put some lead tape on it and see if I can get maybe a little bit more mass. It's always worked in the past.

"My stroke got worse because I was trying to (adjust), and then, you know, I started losing confidence in it because I wasn't hitting my line. So it was just a downward spiral. The rest of the game was not too bad. I hit some bad shots, yes. But also I hit some really good ones. And I was very pleased at the shots I was hitting most of the day. But I got nothing out of the round on the greens. And whatever momentum I could have gotten by hitting good shots, you know, I just missed putts."

Steele, who won the Valero Texas Open in April, didn't miss a shot on his inward nine. After a 1-over-par 36 on the front nine, he came home with five birdies to shoot his 67.

"It was a little cold and rainy this morning, and the ball wasn't carrying very far, and we were warming up in the dark, and it was a little tough to get going early," Steele said. "But once I made the turn, things started to click, and I started to loosen up the body a little bit and caught some nice weather on the back nine. When it's warm, I think the guys will shoot some good numbers out here."

Cantlay, a sophomore at UCLA who earlier this year shot a course-record, 10-under-par 60 in the Travelers Championship, downplayed the fact he beat Woods by four shots.

"It's the first round of a tournament, so it doesn't mean anything," he said. "It was what it was."

Tiger Woods flashes a smile during his news conference Wednesday at the Frys.com Open.

It's gotta be the reps.

An upbeat Tiger Woods greeted a sparkling Wednesday morning at CordeValle Golf Club in the hills south of San Jose, where his game looked sharp from tee to green during the pro-am preceding today's opening round of the Frys.com Open.

Although his putter still has a bit of rust on it, Woods said he's as strong physically as he has been in years, which has allowed him to practice enough to make his new swing a secondhand thought.

"I've had a chance to practice and really work on my game … and basically just get my ball count up, get the reps in. And that's where my comfort's coming back, being able to hit shots and go out and play 36 holes a day," said Woods, who has worked on his game — on the range and the golf course and in the gym — for the past seven weeks. "That's something I hadn't done because I just hadn't had the time. I was limited to a ball count. I was limited to how many holes I could play, how long I could be standing on my leg.

"I've got my strength back. I've got the explosiveness back in the leg."

Shut down by injuries to both his left knee and left Achilles tendon, Woods has played only six full rounds of golf since the Masters. After an abbreviated comeback at The Players Championship— he withdrew after nine holes when he reinjured his left leg — Woods made another comeback at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where he tied for 37th. The following week he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, and, having played so few events, did not qualify for the FedExCup playoffs.

This comeback, however, is different.

"When I came back (at the Bridgestone), I didn't have it," said Woods, who hasn't won a tournament in 23 months and has fallen to No. 51 in the world rankings.

But now he's got it, said swing coach Sean Foley.

"His health is much better than I've seen it," Foley said. "Basically the lead leg is better than it's been in at least three years. What he's able to do is put the reps in. People go, 'Oh the reps thing again.' But listen to any human motion expert. The thing is we're trying to get his swing to where he can hit the ball the way he wants to. And focus on it. But it takes time. And when you have so many starts and stops because you're injured and there is a lack of continuity, it's very easy for the brain to go back to its most familiar pattern.

"I think this is a new start for him. Not a comeback. Not a cameo. This is a new start in the rest of his career."

Woods will do so with a new caddie, Joe LaCava, the longtime looper for Fred Couples and most recently the bagman for Dustin Johnson. And this is the first start for Woods in a Fall Series event, which has triggered an energetic response in this neck of the Golden State. Ticket sales are expected to more than double from 30,000 last year to 70,000. Media credentials tripled — from 100 to 300. Other increases included those in parking spaces (doubled), shuttle buses, security and corporate packages. And advertising and marketing — giant billboards featuring defending champion Rocco Mediate and Woods are towering over nearby Interstate 101 — were bumped significantly.

What hasn't changed is Woods' attitude toward expectation. He is here, intent on "getting a W." And the recent course-record 62 he shot at The Medalist near his new Florida estate could bode well, practice round or not.

"I hadn't posted a low round in a long time. So that's something that felt good to do, and to be honest with you, it was pretty easy and I left a few out there," Woods said. "I've started to turn the corner. I was starting to shoot some really good rounds, a bunch of 66s and 65s, but I hadn't taken it deep. And that was fun to actually post a 62."

Featured groupings

Among his many highlights this year, UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay was the low amateur in the U.S. Open; won the Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year award; and shot a course-record, 10-under-par 60 in the Travelers Championship. Now he's paired with Tiger Woods and 2010 Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen in the first two rounds of the Frys.com Open (3:10 p.m. ET Thursday; 10:40 a.m. Friday). Defending champion Rocco Mediate plays with Kevin Na, the winner last week in Las Vegas, and Troy Matteson (10:30 a.m. Thursday; 3 p.m. Friday). And major champions Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera and Justin Leonard play at 10:40 a.m. Thursday; 3:10 p.m. Friday.

Stat of the week

577

Yards covered by Rocco Mediate's four hole-outs in last year's title run at the Frys.com Open. Mediate aced the 190-yard par-3 third hole with a 6-iron in the first round; holed out from 111 yards with a pitching wedge Friday on the par-5 15th; used a 7-iron to hole out from 160 yards Saturday at the par-4 fourth hole; then used pitching wedge from 116 yards to make eagle on the par-4 17th in the final round. Mediate won by one shot.

Hole of the week

Last year the drivable par-4 17th at CordeValle Golf Club played from shorter tees on the weekend and the pros registered nine eagles, including Rocco Mediate's final-round 2. The green, protected in front by a lake, is shaped like a bowl which causes balls to roll toward the center of the green. The hole is one of just three holes left in the chase for the Kodak Challenge $1 million winner-take-all prize. The season-long competition requires players to play at least 18 of the 30 Kodak Challenge holes. A player's lowest score relative to par on his best 18 holes wins $1 million.