|
|
|
| July 19, 2002 | Friday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 8, 1423 |
Sketchy start by Tiger Woods
GULLANE (Scotland), July 18: Tiger Woods began his British Open campaign with a sketchy first round 70 Thursday as his fellow Americans Duffy Waldorf and David Toms moved to the top of the leaderboard at four under par.
The world number one struggled with his putter in calm conditions at Muirfield while his playing partners Justin Rose and Shigeki Maruyama fired matching three-under-par 68s to steal the early limelight.
England’s Rose and Japan’s Maruyama were joined at the head of the field by 1985 Open champion Sandy Lyle, veteran Irishman Des Smyth, American Steve Jones, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Frenchman Jean-Francois Remesy until Waldorf and Toms moved one stroke clear following rounds of 67.
The 39-year-old Waldorf, best known for his colourful selection of Hawaiian shirts, was level for the day after eight holes.
But the Californian picked up shots at the ninth, 12th, 14th and last holes to snatch the outright lead on his fifth Open appearance.
“I played pretty conservatively because there’s a lot of high rough and the bunkers are very hard,” Waldorf said.
Toms, the U.S. PGA champion, collected five birdies and a bogey to draw level with Waldorf late in the day as he chases his first title of the year.
“Maybe I’m just pacing myself. I’ve got close to a win this year but haven’t won a golf tournament. This would be a good place to start.”
Irish veteran Smyth, who nearly withdrew from the tournament through injury on Wednesday, bounced back from a bogey-five at the first to hold the early clubhouse lead before being joined by Lyle, the 1985 Open champion Lyle, who birdied the last three holes.
The American needed a total of 34 putts and missed eight birdie chances from between seven and 15 feet.
But Woods, who produced a mix of three birdies and two bogeys, was still reasonably satisfied with his round.
“I managed my way around the golf course pretty well today,” he said. “Anything under par on this golf course is a good score and you’re doing just fine.
Woods, who had to back away after being disturbed by a photographer on the first tee, made a shaky par-four at the 448-yard opening hole after pushing a two-iron well right into the thick rough.
The 26-year-old — the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to clinch the first two majors of the year with victories in the U.S. Masters and U.S. Open — then wasted reasonable birdie opportunities at the next two holes.
He missed from seven feet at the par-four second and from 12 feet at the par-four third.
A two-putt from 25 feet earned him his first birdie of the day at the 560-yard fifth but he three-putted at the par-four sixth to drop back to even par.
Further birdies followed at the ninth and 11th holes but these were sandwiched around a bogey-five at the 475-yard 10th where Woods found the rough off the tee for the second time.
Woods then parred the last seven holes, lipping out for birdie at the 381-yard 12th and also missing good birdie opportunities on 14, 16 and 17.
Rose reeled off two birdies, an eagle-three at the ninth and a bogey at the par-four 10th during an impressive round.
“I really enjoyed it out here today, even though I knew there was going to be a bit of pressure,” said Rose, who sprung to prominence as an amateur when he chipped in at the 18th to tie for fourth at the 1998 British Open.
First round scores:
67 Duffy Waldorf (U.S.), David Toms (U.S.)
68 Des Smyth (Ireland), Sandy Lyle, Shigeki Maruyama (Japan), Justin Rose, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Jean-Francois Remesy (France), Steve Jones (U.S.)
69 Mark O’Meara (U.S.), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Ian Poulter, Ian Garbutt, Taichi Teshima (Japan)
70 Niclas Fasth (Sweden), Ernie Els (South Africa), Brad Faxon (U.S.), Paul Lawrie, Tiger Woods (U.S.), Chris Riley (U.S.), Bradley Dredge, Bob Tway (U.S.), Tim Clark (South Africa), Kenichi Kuboya (Japan), Jose Coceres (Argentina)
71 Steve Elkington (Australia), Jeff Maggert (U.S.), Stewart Cink (U.S.), Toru Taniguchi (Japan), Dean Wilson (U.S.), Justin Leonard (U.S.), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Greg Norman (Australia), Scott McCarron (U.S.), Andrew Coltart, Anders Hansen (Denmark), Retief Goosen (South Africa), Rocco Mediate (U.S.), Jim Furyk (U.S.)
72 Peter Lonard (Australia), Ian Woosnam, Thomas Levet (France), Peter O’Malley (Australia), Paul McGinley (Ireland), Lee Westwood, Chris DiMarco (U.S.), Eduardo Romero (Argentina), David Duval (U.S.), Shingo Katayama (Japan), Craig Parry (Australia), Scott Verplank (U.S.), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Bernhard Langer (Germany), Paul Casey, Pierre Fulke (Sweden), Richard Green (Australia), Roger Wessels (South Africa), Gary Evans, Joe Durant (U.S.), Jesper Parnevik (Sweden), Vijay Singh (Fiji), Darren Clarke
73 Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), David Howell, Mike Weir (Canada), Stuart Appleby (Australia), Scott Laycock (Australia), Esteban Toledo (Mexico), David Park, Alex Cejka (Germany), Paul Eales, Luke Donald, Robert Allenby (Australia), Jerry Kelly (U.S.), Kevin Sutherland (U.S.)
74 Frank Lickliter (U.S.), Dudley Hart (U.S.), John Cook (U.S.), Loren Roberts (U.S.), Mark Calcavecchia (U.S.), John Daly (U.S.), Raphael Jacquelin (France), Fredrik Andersson (Sweden), Jim Carter (U.S.), Roger Chapman, Chris Smith (U.S.), Scott Hoch (U.S.)
75 Peter Baker, Patrik Sjoland (Sweden), Mathias Gronberg (Sweden), Tsuneyuki Nakajima (Japan)
76 James Kingston (South Africa), Ian Stanley (Australia), Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina), a-Simon Young, Ben Barham, Malcolm Mackenzie
77 Kiyoshi Miyazato (Japan), Tom Watson (U.S.), Adam Scott (Australia), Billy Andrade (U.S.), a-Alejandro Larrazabal (Spain)
78 Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden), Scott Henderson, Matthias Eliasson (Sweden), John Riegger (U.S.)
80 Darren Fichardt (South Africa)—Reuters
|
|
|
|
