ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – I didn’t have to go here.
Tiger Woods put on his first starting shot at the 150th Open Championship and it felt great. He called it “perfect.” His 3-iron plan sailed directly down the left side of the street to the iconic Old Course as planned. He then shot straight into a cool divot.
From there, he worsened the 82-time PGA TOUR winner who seeks to win the Claret Jug for the fourth time and for the third time in St. Louis. Andrews. His approach shot fell to the burn in front of the green, the result of an inopportune gust of wind according to Woods, and he was soon after writing a double bogey six on his card.
The battle continued from here and when his six-hour round was finally completed, Woods was signing for a 6 out of 78, 14 shots away from TOUR debutant Cameron Young, who lit up the sacred turf. as Woods at his best with a 64..
“I really didn’t feel like I was hit so badly, but I ended up in bad places. Or weird things just happened. And that’s how it goes. The links are like that. And this golf course is like that,” he said. Woods.
“Sometimes it just goes that way. It just goes one way and it looks like it’ll never come back. No matter how hard you fight. And then I increased the problems with my poor speed on the greens.”
Thousands of people had come hoping to see one more miraculous performance from their 2000, 2005 and 2006 Open champions. They didn’t understand it. But they could not look the other way.
The bogeys in the third and fourth holes dropped Woods beyond the pace and a second double bogey in the seventh hole sent a silence over the crowd who desperately wanted to see some vintage magic.
Liam James and his large group of friends had made the trip from Newcastle, in the north of England. James was born the day Woods won his first open championship in 2000 and echoed the thoughts of many when asked why he kept the faith at six more through seven holes.
“We don’t know if Tiger will ever play an Open here again. The question should be why not everyone is here watching him, “James said.” Even if he shoots 80, we’ll cheer every shot. It’s not just about today, it’s about everything he’s given to the game. That’s Tiger Woods at the golf house, no improvement. “
Indeed, fans stayed six or seven deep along Woods ’grueling six-hour round, while those directly behind tee 17 had bet nearly three hours before their arrival just to be able to watch. hit him on the hotel St. Andrews.
As Woods lined up his approach shot to the same hole, his teammate Haotong Li was seen in the window of his hotel room filming on his phone; it seems like everyone knew how special it was to be there, regardless of their score.
Fans had a chance to roar a bit around the turn when Woods made birds attached to the ninth and tenth holes. They also gave him some extra love when he made birds on the 14th and the hundreds who did so beyond 9pm. The local time for his walk to 18 gave Woods a warm round of applause.
“They were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. So supportive, ”Woods said of the masses.
“(Today has been) very, very significant … considering, where I’ve been … that was always on the calendar in order to be good enough to play in it. And I am. And he didn’t very well.
“I think I had four or five 3-putts today. It didn’t go very well on the greens. And every putt I left short. I struggled to hit the putts hard enough. They looked faster than they put, and I struggled with that. “.
The short change between rounds was difficult for Woods in his past start in the PGA Championship. It took solid, long recovery sessions to keep his shattered body under control. But on Thursday, Woods, 46, declined to use his injuries as an excuse, admitting that “today was much easier, physically, than the other two events.”
Although the growing feeling behind the ropes was to absorb the moments as if they were the last, James and his friends were unwilling to give up hope.
“The golf gods haven’t seemed to be kind today, but maybe they’re just getting ready for something even bigger tomorrow,” James said. “We’re chasing tickets just in case.”
For his part, Woods already has a goal in mind.
“Looks like I’ll have to throw 66 tomorrow to get the chance (to make the cut),” Woods said. “It simply came to our notice then. The boys did it today. And that is my responsibility tomorrow … to go ahead and do it. I need to do it. “
Maybe he’s supposed to go that way.
Here’s a hole-by-hole breakdown of Woods ’initial round at The 150th Open.