"But a little bit of dull to his game should have been expected at this point. It just takes some getting used to."

Greg Stoda looks at Tiger's understandably rusty play. After all, his 8-month layoff was probably the longest since the Mike Douglas Show appearance days when he was two.

Hey, he might blitz the Blue Monster with 64, 65 or 66 today.

But a better guess is that Woods, who's simply not going to win mired so deep in the pack 10 shots off Mickelson's lead, will manufacture another round much like his first two.

It's not that he's being careful - he says he feels "great" save for a sore right ankle - as much as it's a matter of Woods being unable to sustain anything positive. He says it's a lack of "feel" on the course, which might be true. But it's almost certainly a nicer way of saying he's rusty.

It's as though Woods is in a struggle with his internal clock. He seemed several times to be fighting an urge to hurry between shots. There's a pace to the game - heck, fast or slow play can even be a strategy - and Woods might have to get used to his own rhythms again.

Woods isn't, as he said, "playing for five bucks at home in Isleworth" anymore.

No, he isn't.

And as much good as those social rounds surely did Woods in his physical recuperation, he might also have grown too accustomed to zooming through 18 holes in much less time than it takes to compete on the PGA Tour.