Thursday, 28th March 2024
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Woods hoping tough going can lead to comeback

Tiger Woods may be in danger of missing back-to-back cuts in majors for the first time in his career, but he remained defiant he can recover after a first round of four-over par at The Open on Thursday. After carding a dismal 76, it meant Woods was also facing the third time in four outings…
Woods

Woods

Tiger Woods may be in danger of missing back-to-back cuts in majors for the first time in his career, but he remained defiant he can recover after a first round of four-over par at The Open on Thursday.

After carding a dismal 76, it meant Woods was also facing the third time in four outings at a Grand Slam event that the 14-time major winner had failed to play at the weekend.

“Hopefully the conditions will be tough tomorrow (Saturday) and I can put together a good round and we’ll move up the board progressively,” Woods said.

“I’m so far back and the leaderboard is so bunched that in order for me to get in there by Sunday, I’m going to have to have the conditions tough and then obviously put together some really solid rounds, something like what J.D. (John Daly) did back in ’95.

“If you shoot some good, solid rounds in tough conditions like that, players can move up the board, and hopefully I’m one of them.

The writing was on the wall as early as the first hole that the golfing Gods had again turned against the hugely-popular American when he buried his approach shot in the water at the Swilcan Burn.

The 39-year-old, dressed in sober grey like many of the golfers, managed to get down in two from the drop but still bogeyed his fifth opening hole in his last seven major starts.

“It was a discouraging start and I was a little angered a little bit. But hey, I figured I’ve got 17 holes to fight through it, and hopefully I can make some birdies out there, which I didn’t do, but I hit it really good coming home,”

– Day to forget –
Despite big crowds lining the windswept fairways of the mythical Old Course at St Andrews, the 39-year-old had another day to forget as he made just one birdie all day in a group that also featured 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Australian Jason Day.

While most of the talk in the build-up had surrounded the 21-year-old Texan Jordan Spieth and his bid for a rare third major in a row, the biggest crowds, at least to start with, were following Woods who won on the Old Course in 2000 and 2005.

Woods steadied the ship with two straight pars at 3 and 4, but on a day when birdies were ripe for the taking, his stoneface expression tightened even further with further bogeys at five and seven.

Already in danger of missing the cut for the second straight major after June’s US Open, Woods was nine shots off the lead having played just six holes.

“I had a great warm-up. I was shaping it well warming up. My best warm-up I’ve ever had in my career was in Germany.

“I hit the 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300-yard signs, and I started off bogey-double bogey. That’s the way it goes.” he added.

After playing the front nine in four over 40, he dropped another shot at the par 4 tenth before finally giving his fans something to cheer about with his first birdie of the day at the relatively easy par-5 14th.

In the same group, Day gradually climbed the leaderboard with five birdies and no bogeys to the same point, while Oosthuizen quietly went about his business and bounced back from his first bogey at 13 to birdie the next to rest on four under.

Three straight pars for Woods followed, including a fine four at 17, the notorious Road Hole, where birdies are rare and bogeys are common.

Up ahead, American Dustin Johnson became the clubhouse leader after a sparkling round of 7-under 65 that included an eagle and 18 holes of bogey-free golf.

Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, South African Retief Goosen and American debutant Robert Streb were all in the clubhouse on six under while Day completed the quartet, one shot back, when he parred the final hole for 66.

By the time Woods trudged off the final green, he was tied for 128th with 132 players in the 156-strong field having begun or completed their rounds.

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