Long day, good score for Tiger
GULLANE, Scotland – By the time Tiger Woods finally made his way up to the 18th green, the bleachers were half empty and long shadows crept across the fairway. If Woods needed to be reminded how long this day was, the clock on the giant yellow scoreboard read 7:37 p.m. – more than five hours after he teed off.
The major championships are usually grinds, but for anyone playing in the afternoon Thursday, the first round of the British Open proved more of a test than ever. The wind was blowing harder than expected, the golf course was drying up by the minute, and anything around par was a score to be respected.
And there was Woods, feeling awfully good about a 2-under 69 that had to give him hope his five-year drought in the major championships might come to an end this week on a golf course playing like it is in the middle of a drought.
“It was tough,” Woods said. “The golf course progressively got more dried out and more difficult as we played. I’m very pleased to shoot anything even par or better.”
A day that began with a near catastrophe off the first tee ended with a six-footer that found the center of the cup on the 18th green. Hardly surprising since Woods had 10 one-putts as he scrambled his way around the links course for one of the better scores of the afternoon.
He was three shots off the lead set by Zach Johnson, who was part of a morning surge of players who took advantage of easier conditions to set the pace. More importantly, perhaps, Woods has a morning tee time of his own Friday on a course that at least for the first day was set up to favor the early players.
“The guys that played early had a huge, huge break,” Phil Mickelson said after shooting a 69 himself in the morning. “Because even without any wind, it’s beyond difficult.”
That Woods managed to break 70 in the afternoon was impressive enough. That he did it after nearly snap hooking a 3-wood out of bounds on his opening tee shot and having to take an unplayable when the ball nestled in a deep clump of unruly grass was doubly so.
16-year-old Dou advances in Public Links: China’s Dou Zecheng beat fellow 16-year-old Sam Horsfield of England 1 up Thursday in the U.S. Amateur Public Links to advance to the quarterfinals.
Dou took the lead with a par on the par-3 16th at Laurel Hill and matched Horsfield with a par on the par-4 and a birdie on the par-5 18th to close out the match.
Dou, a 3-and-2 second-round winner over Sam Saunders of Albuquerque, N.M., in the morning, will face Jordan Niebrugge of Mequon, Wis. Niebrugge beat Canada’s Justin Shin 5 and 3 in the third round.
The tournament is limited to players who don’t hold privileges at any course that doesn’t extend playing privileges to the general public. The 36-hole championship match is Saturday.
Walshe beats heat in Marathon LPGA first round: Alison Walshe, chasing her first victory in four years on the LPGA Tour, shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead Thursday after the opening round of the steamy Marathon Classic.
Walshe, in the top 20 on tour in putting statistics, needed only 22 putts to negotiate hot and humid Highland Meadows. Paula Creamer, the 2008 winner of what used to be known as the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic, played later in the day and shot a 66 that left her tied with teenager Lexi Thompson and Canadian Jessica Shepley.
Top-ranked Inbee Park birdied her final two holes for a 67. Defending champ So Yeon Ryu had a 68, and Se Ri Pak, a five-time winner of the tournament, opened with a 69.