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Will Tiger win in a rout?

August 14, 2009

Statistically, Tiger Woods' worst round in major championships is the first round, as Sal Johnson noted in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. Woods' first-round scoring average in major championships is 71.06, higher than his average in any of the subsequent rounds, even the final round (70.57).

Maybe Woods won't win, but any time he breaks from the gate fast, as he did Thursday with a 67 in the first round of the PGA Championship, does not portend well for the field. That he has done so in a major, and given his track record in such events, it might portend a rout.

-- John Strege