Tiger's on the prowl
Posted on 16/07/2010Tiger Woods' opening round 67 sees him trail leader Rory McIlroy by four strokes, and Kevin Garside in The Telegraph believes his uncharacteristically subdued first-18 holes leaves him in an ominous position to make his mark on this year's Open Championship.
Apart from one shout of 'go Tiger' and an ensemble of blondes in Tiger T-shirts engaged in a spot of ambush marketing beside the 16th tee box, it was oppressively quiet on the Woods trail.Bruce Forsyth offered potential for mischief at his hotel window overlooking the 17th fairway, but he was subdued. Not even a wave as he tracked Woods through his outsized binoculars.
Woods's playing partner, Justin Rose, thought the muggy, windless conditions might have been a factor. Perhaps the group, which also included Camilo Villegas, were becalmed by the birdie shower erupting ahead. John Daly birdied one and two and might have begun the run for home 11 under according to the marshal who followed him through the four-hole loop from eight to 11. Rory McIlroy could not miss after warning that this would be his week.
Despite an apparent lack of incident, when Woods entered the scorer's hut the numbers on his card added up to 67, the same five-under total that he posted on day one of the 2000 championship, which he won.
He did not make a serious error until the Road Hole. Maybe the thought of being ogled by Brucie put him off, or was it the blonde gaggle, each one of whom might have caught his mince pies in another life? No chance, not in this, his 'no sex, please, I'm Tiger' period.
Woods stood at six under when he pulled his drive left off the tee at the 17th and into the long grass. He escaped to 75 feet and lagged his putt to four. The ball sat above the hole – tricky but not the worst. A gasp rippled along the road behind as the par putt slid past. "We've got a long way to go," Woods said. "Just gotta keep plugging along."
A 67 will do. Woods has not broken sweat yet and smiled when asked if he could chase down McIlroy. "We've got three more rounds," he said. From his tone one inferred a different response: Rory who?
"I'm in good shape. I took advantage of a golf course when I needed to. We all saw what Rory was doing, what JD was doing. I just let the round mature. It could have been pretty good today."
Daly's pants for sale
Meanwhile, it wasn't just John Daly's opening-round 66 that was catching the eye - his trademark trousers were also attracting attention at St Andrews, and they weren't the ones on his person, either. Charles Sale has his say in his Daily Mail column.
John Daly's position high up the leaderboard after the first round of The Open will only intensify the interest R&A officials are taking in his psychedelic trousers and Hooters promotional director girlfriend Anna Cladakis.Their attention was drawn following the pair’s commercial activity at the Scottish Open last week.
Anna, who often wears clothes that match Daly’s, was seen hawking his range of Loudmouth golf trousers out of a sports bag while on the Loch Lomond course with her husband.
The pirate merchandise operation was eventually reported to tournament organisers, but by the time they came looking for Anna, her stock of trousers was nowhere to be seen.
The far more intense media spotlight at The Open — plus the R&A vigilance — will make more clandestine sales rather difficult, although an unlikely second Open victory for Big John should shift a hefty batch of his Loudmouth pants.