ST Andrews, Scotland — Tiger Woods It was on the wrong side of the draw — and often the wrong side of the holes — during the first round of the 150th Open Championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews on Thursday.
Playing in the afternoon tide, windier and more difficult conditions than the morning group faced, Woods shot a 6-over 78. He was 14 shots behind the leader. Cameron Young After 18 holes.
It was a disappointing start for Woods, who is playing only his third official tournament this season. He hoped to compete at St. Andrews, where he won the Open title in 2000 and 2005. He believed his right leg, which had been surgically repaired 17 months after he was seriously injured in a car accident outside Los Angeles, would be stronger. February 2021.
Woods, 46, will have less than 12 hours to recover and prepare for Friday’s second round. Woods, the US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick And Maximum Homam It is scheduled to depart at 4:58 a.m. on Friday.
After struggling through the first eight holes and starting 6 over, Woods began to turn things around on the short par-4 ninth. He drove his 379-yard tee shot to the green, chipped it to about 8 feet and made a birdie putt to move to 5 over. Walking off the green, Woods smiled, licked a finger and swung it like a slam dunk.
Woods made another birdie on the par-4 10th hole. After hitting his tee shot 306 yards down the middle of the fairway, his approach shot to about 3 feet was his best round. He sank a birdie putt to improve to 4 over. Woods gave 1 shot back, however, on the par-3 11th hole, when his 9-foot par putt missed the hole. He made another bogey with a three-putt on the par-4 13th.
Woods’ best hole may have been the par-5, 616-yard 14th. He ripped a 412-yard drive up the middle — the longest drive of any player that day — and hit the green from 188 yards. He two-putted from about 75 feet for birdie.
But Woods’ start on the Old Course couldn’t have been worse. His opening tee shot landed in a divot, and his approach shot was too short and burned in front of the green. After a drop, he made a good chip shot to about 3 feet, but missed the short putt and made a double-bogey 6.
After carding a par on the second hole, Woods no. He made back-to-back bogeys on 3 and 4. He hit 109 yards from No. 3 missed the green and no. He fell to 4 out of 4. An errant tee shot on the seventh hole settled in a deep bunker near the 12th tee, leading to another double bogey.
With two double bogeys in the first seven holes, Woods matched his total of double bogeys or worse in three rounds played at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in May. He had a double bogey and a triple bogey before withdrawing after 54 holes because of pain in his right leg. He shot a 9-over 79 in the third round, his worst score at the PGA Championship.
Woods didn’t have a double bogey in the first two rounds of the Masters in April but had a double bogey in the third and fourth. He posted 6-over 78s in each of the final two rounds, representing his worst score of his career at Augusta National.
According to ESPN Stats and Information Research, Woods played 321 rounds in majors from 1995 to 2020 and posted five scores of 78 or less. He has four such scores in eight rounds at majors this year.
Homam, the one who was tweeted earlier this week Of his excitement to be in the same group as Woods, Thursday was “the best day I’ve ever had on the golf course,” while shooting a 1-over 73.
“He’s a goat for a reason,” Homa said. “He was really nice. It was a really fun day. It was a dream come true-kind of day, minus some golf. It really felt like fantasy.”
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