St Andrews (Scotland): Tiger Woods may be in danger of missing back-to-back cuts in majors for the first time in his career, but he remained defiant he can recover after a first round of four-over par at The British Open on Thursday. After carding a dismal 76, it meant Woods was also facing the third time in four outings at a Grand Slam event that the 14-time major winner had failed to play at the weekend.
“Hopefully the conditions will be tough tomorrow and I can put together a good round and we’ll move up the board progressively,” Woods said. “I’m so far back and the leaderboard is so bunched that in order for me to get in there by Sunday, I’m going to have to have the conditions tough and then obviously put together some really solid rounds, something like what J.D. (John Daly) did back in ’95.
“If you shoot some good, solid rounds in tough conditions like that, players can move up the board, and hopefully I’m one of them.” The writing was on the wall as early as the first hole that the golfing Gods had again turned against the hugely-popular American when he buried his approach shot in the water at the Swilcan Burn.
The 39-year-old managed to get down in two from the drop but still bogeyed his fifth opening hole in his last seven major starts. “It was a discouraging start and I was a little angered a little bit. But hey, I figured I’ve got 17 holes to fight through it, and hopefully I can make some birdies out there, which I didn’t do, but I hit it really good coming home.”
Johnson takes an early lead
Jordan Spieth got his Open campaign off to a promising start at St Andrews on Thursday, but in the end he had to bow to playing partner Dustin Johnson. Spieth got the better of Johnson on the 18th hole last month when he added the US Open to his breakthrough win in April at the Masters.
But no hard feelings were evident between the American pair as they happily bantered away together and bagged birdies on a morning of low scoring. Both reached the turn at five-under 31 after which it was Johnson who excelled down the more difficult back nine.
He moved out to seven-under 65, while Spieth’s normally reliable putter suddenly sputtered, coughing up bogeys at 13 and 17, the notorious Road Hole. The 21-year-old Texan, however, sunk a snaking 20-footer for birdie at the last and a round of 67. Both Americans clearly stated their case that they are among the main men to beat at the fabled Old Course this week.
