Getting in the swing of things: Tiger Woods during his opening roundEven before the first competitive shot in Britain of Tiger Woods’ post-nuclear career, it was obvious that the Scottish galleries were intent on demonstrating their support.
His introduction on the first tee yesterday morning was greeted by applause, cheers and whistles far in excess of anything that the likes of such popular characters as Ernie Els, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy and even John Daly could muster among the earlier groupings.
‘They were great out there today,’ Woods remarked.
Woods was not. Not quite. But the world No 1 produced a performance good enough to gain a foothold on the leaderboard, his five-under par 67 reward for fans who view him as the supreme golfer rather than the supreme philanderer.
The moral majority appeared to be a distinct minority at St Andrews, pretty much numbering zero judging by the absence of audible barracking and catcalls
In this corner of a foreign field — perhaps only in this corner of a foreign field — Tiger Woods was, for once, being judged as a golfer and not as a husband or a father or a role model or an icon or a symbol of racial equality. Just a golfer.
A survey by golfalot.com, whatever that may be, released to coincide with The Open, claimed that 90 per cent of women polled hoped Woods would miss the cut, in marked contrast to the 80 per cent of men who wanted him to contend this weekend.
Nothing yesterday reflected those statistics, though it was noticeable that the occasional standing ovation from the greenside grandstands seemed to involve readers of Zoo magazine.
Not everyone followed Woods for the golf. As early as the third tee, a bevy of blondes removed their jackets to reveal tiger T-shirts while donning Paddy Power baseball caps.
Attracting attention: More female spectators are drawn to look at Tiger during his first round‘Who is Paddy Power?’ a passing American journalist asked of one of the stunning stooges.
‘No idea, I am just doing a bit of work for the day,’ she replied.
It is not known whether she had heard of Tiger Woods.
‘Today felt awkward…’ Woods said, giving the impression there might follow some admission of apprehension or embarrassment.
We were sadly mistaken. ‘…because there was absolutely no wind whatsoever and you never play a links golf course with no wind,’ he added.
The torrential rain of Wednesday had softened and slowed greens, which Woods had already criticised for lack of pace.
‘These greens are the slowest I have seen in a long time,’ he said yesterday as if to emphasise the point.
Still got it: The world No 1 attracts the ladies at the OpenHence the divorce from his putter of 11 years, 14 major titles and $95million standing and the fling with a new young thing. She did the business as Woods holed three putts of 15 feet and more on the way to an outward 33.
‘Most of the guys were under early, even though I wasn’t, and I just let the round mature, just keep hanging in there and keep plugging along. The art here is just letting the round mature and there’s no need to force it.
'Just go ahead and capitalise on certain holes.’
Like the par-four 12th, which he drove, the par-four 13th and par-five 14th, which he reached in two, for a hat trick of birdies on the way home.
There was, too, the most exquisite 60-foot lag putt at the 16th, a virtuoso piece which had more to do with the player than the instrument.
‘It’s getting better every week,’ Woods said of his game.
‘Every week I’m playing, the things I have been working on have been starting to come together. I’m hitting shots that I haven’t hit in a long time. It’s building.’
The 17th proved the journey is far from over. A census being undertaken by the R&A revealed that the first 42 players to negotiate the modified Road Hole used a driver from the tee. Woods, the 43rd, opted for a three-wood, not so much a conservative decision as one predicated on fear and uncertainty. Woods did not have the confidence to hit his driver over the hotel. He tried instead to fade the ball left to right round the corner.
‘I was trying to hit a cut and did not trust it,’ he said. ‘I hit more of a pull and ended up where I ended up,’ which was in a nasty patch of rough where he was lucky enough to find a lie that allowed him to reach the front of the green.
Another superb lag putt was spoiled when he missed a tiddler. He also used his putter for three strokes at the 18th, having driven into the Valley of Sin.
His disappointment at finishing four off the lead was only brief because the overall picture remains bright.
‘I’m in good shape. I took advantage of a golf course when I needed to take advantage of it. As of right now, we are on the good side of the draw.’ If Woods gets lucky with the weather again today and if he can repeat the solidity of yesterday, the golf fans will continue to cheer him.
source: dailymail
