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| July 5, 2003 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 4,1424 |
Tiger Woods equals course record at 100th Western Open
LEMONT,(Illinois), July 4: World number one Tiger Woods, without a victory in four months, equalled the course record by firing a nine-under-par 63 to grab the lead after the first round of the 100th Western Open on Thursday.
Woods, playing his last event before the British Open in two weeks’ time, carded his lowest round of the year. He went out in a four-under 32 after starting at the 10th and then added five birdies on his inward nine, including four in the last five holes.
Vance Veazey was in second place on 64 at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club’s Dubsdread course. World number seven David Toms, who won the FedEx St Jude Classic last Sunday, continued his excellent run of form by shooting a 65.
Title holder Jerry Kelly was fourth on 66. U.S. Masters champion Mike Weir of Canada, Cliff Kresge, Jason Gore, Chad Campbell, Heath Slocum and Brian Bateman were four strokes off the pace on 67.
Woods, 27, who won here in 1997 and 1999, posted an eagle, eight birdies and one bogey in what he called his best round in four months.
“Different circumstances but I really played probably the same way at the World Matchplay,” he told reporters. “But obviously, it’s matchplay, so you have two totally different mind-sets.”
NO SLUMP
His matchplay victory at Carlsbad, California at the beginning of March was Woods’s last win but he said he had not been in a slump.
The world number one’s round was interrupted halfway through by a thunderstorm. Three of the top four scores, by Woods, Veazey and Kelly, were completed after the rain delay.
“When we started out playing today, to be in the top 10 you had to shoot five-under-par, and I think that’s kind of where I stayed at, so you can see it wasn’t very firm to begin with, and then with the rain it became even softer,” Woods said.
Veazey, 38, a product of the Nationwide Tour, finished 10 shots behind Toms last week and carried on the momentum with a career-best 64.
World number five Vijay Singh of Fiji and number six Jim Furyk, the U.S. Open champion, were on one-under 71. Number nine Phil Mickelson returned a 70.
Leading scores after the first round of the $4.5 million Western Open at Coghill Golf and Country Club’s Dubsdread course (par 72, 7,224 yards) on Thursday (U.S. unless stated):
63 Tiger Woods; 64 Vance Veazey; 65 David Toms; 66 Jerry Kelly; 67 Cliff Kresge, Jason Gore, Mike Weir (Canada), Chad Campbell, Heath Slocum, Brian Bateman, 68 Matt Gogel, Woody Austin, Carlos Franco (Paraguay), JL Lewis, Robert Damron, Donnie Hammond, 69 Duffy Waldorf, Rich Beem, Dan Forsman, Tom Lehman, Scott McCarron, Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden), Pat Perez, JJ Henry, Darron Stiles, Kenichi Kuboya (Japan), Kirk Triplett, Glen Day, Robert Allenby (Australia), Shigeki Maruyama (Japan)
Other international players:
70 Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan), Anthony Painter (Australia), Thomas Levet (France), Rod Pampling (Australia), Ian Leggatt (Canada), Stephen Ames (Trinidad), Akio Sadakata (Japan), 71 David Frost (South Africa), Vijay Singh (Fiji), KJ Choi (South Korea), Tim Clark (South Africa), John Senden (Australia), 72 Gavin Coles (Australia), Brenden Pappas (South Africa), Scott Laycock (Australia), Esteban Toledo (Mexico), Jose Coceres (Argentina), Rory Sabbatini (South Africa), Carl Pettersson (Sweden), John Morgan (Britain), 73 Richard Johnson (Sweden), Craig Perks (New Zealand), Jesper Parnevik (Sweden), Luke Donald (Britain), Stuart Appleby (Australia), 74 Peter Lonard (Australia), Greg Chalmers (Australia), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), James McLean (Australia), Matthew Goggin (Australia), 75 Aaron Baddeley (Australia), Steven Alker (New Zealand), 76 Glen Hnatiuk (Canada).
Trio breaks record
STRAFFAN (Ireland): South African Retief Goosen was one of three players to break the course record on the revamped K Club ‘North’ course on Thursday in the first round of the European Open.
Goosen, aiming for a third successive European order of merit, joined Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth and Welsh Ryder Cup hero Phillip Price on 66.
On a congested leaderboard, one of the tournament favourites, Darren Clarke, is tied for fourth place, while another, Colin Montgomerie, is two shots off the pace. Defending champion Michael Campbell is four shots behind.
Clarke had to compose himself after hitting his playing-partner Stephen Leaney’s pregnant wife Tracey on the head with his tee shot at the 11th. She recovered with no ill effects and a relieved Clarke went on to collect three birdies in the next four holes.
Padraig Harrington, the clear favourite, subsided to a 73 after a bright start.
Goosen, who shared second place with Harrington last year, knows he has to raise his sights if he is to go one better and climb the European rankings in the process.
A $550,000 victory could take him from 16th to third place on the European money list.
Co-leaders Price and Forsyth have targets, too.
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