Stuart Franklin / Getty Images

Retief Goosen is seeking his first top visit in the U.S. since March.

Masters champion Trevor Immelman opened with a 75, while Woody Austin didn’t help his Ryder Cup cause with a 71. Austin is ninth in the U.S. standings with two tournaments left to earn one of eight automatic spots.

Goosen hasn’t won since the Qatar Masters in January 2007, which moved him up to No. 6 in the world. He has fallen to No. 39 as he struggles to put together his swing, and he headed home to Florida from the Canadian Open to work with his coach.

He showed signs at the U.S. Open when he had two sub-70 rounds and tied for 14th, and at the British Open, where he was in contention going into the weekend. But he has never fared well at Firestone, recording only one top 10 in six appearances.

It helps not having to deal with Woods, a six-time winner on this track.

“The guy that’s won here every year is not here, and all the losers are still here,” Goosen said. “It’s nice.”

Woods’ absence was obvious in other ways.

The course was virtually empty, with most of the traffic following Mickelson and Ernie Els (69). Stricker hit a 5-iron over the bunker on No. 4 to 6 feet for birdie that put him at 5 under, and all of 17 fans followed him to the next hole. Some of the concession stands had no visitors, about like a Montreal Expos game before they moved to Washington.

Woods, who finished at 8-under 272 for an eight-shot victory, might not have recognized the place. Some felt the Bridgestone Invitational last year was even tougher than the PGA Championship the following week at Southern Hills.

That might not be the case this year, although it was still a stern test.

“It’s just a good course,” Stricker said. “It’s got length, it’s got rough, it’s got tough greens. So you need to be on your game.”