| AP Sports Headlines |
Friday, July 19, 2002
By Jeff Shain
Knight Ridder Newspapers
GULLANE, Scotland - Among the many British Open wagers available in betting shops this week is one in which gamblers can pick the winner among any of the threesomes paired for the early rounds.
Thursday morning, Tiger Woods was a 4-5 prospect to win his three-ball with Shigeki Maruyama and Justin Rose.
Who would have figured him to finish last?
Woods will have to pursue golf's Grand Slam from off the pace, posting a testy 1-under-par 70 that left him three shots down the list and annoyed with the photo gallery.
Golf's No. 1 attraction was one shot into his round when he backed off a recovery attempt from Muirfield's tall grass to chastise an overzealous lensman.
``That one might have had a heavy finger,'' said Woods, less edgy some four hours later.
The day still produced a major champion at the top of the leaderboard. David Toms, the last man to wrest the good silver from Woods' grasp, fired a 67 to stand tied with Duffy Waldorf and Sweden's Carl Pettersson.
Rose, Maruyama and world No. 2 Phil Mickelson headed a group of 12 one shot back in fourth on the best day this week to hit the Firth of Forth, with brilliant sunshine and gentle winds off the North Sea.
``Anything under par is going to be a good score in benign conditions,'' said Woods, who finds himself tied for 23rd. ``You can only shoot yourself out of the tournament on the first day, and I certainly didn't do that.''
Woods already has won a major this year from three shots behind on the first day. That came at the Masters, where he began tied for seventh behind Davis Love III. A third-round 66 moved him in position to begin his Grand Slam quest. That might prove more difficult this week when he'll have to climb over three times as many foes on a course that doesn't cater to his prodigious power.
An opening 70 wasn't good enough for Jack Nicklaus in 1972, when he also came to Muirfield seeking the Grand Slam's third leg after winning the Masters and U.S. Open. He finished one shot behind Lee Trevino.
``I saw Woods on television and he didn't make a putt all day, it looked like,'' said Toms, last year's PGA Championship victor. ``He probably thinks in the conditions like Thursday, it's as bad as he'll play. He's going to be up there.''
Spectators were lined up 10 and 12 deep as Woods made his way around Muirfield. Adept at insulating himself against the buzz, an ill-timed camera click set him on edge almost immediately. Woods stepped away from his ball at the first tee, then pushed his drive into the waist-high heather. Addressing his ball to hack out, Woods suddenly turned to the photo gallery.
``You guys taken enough fricking pictures already?'' he said. Woods hacked forward into the fairway abut 60 yards from the pin, then pitched up within eight feet and saved par.
``A cameraman was out of line,'' Woods said. ``He took a picture at an inappropriate time and I backed off the shot and I really wasn't as committed to my line the second time as I should have been. Consequently, I hit a poor tee shot.
``It's fine taking a picture; it's their job. But these guys are professionals. They know when to do it.''
Equally exasperating, perhaps, was Woods' putting. He made only one birdie putt from longer than a couple of feet, that an eight-footer at the par-4 11th hole.
``I hit a lot of beautiful putts that just grazed the edge and lipped out,'' Woods said. ``If those go in, it would have been a pretty good round.''
That frustration was apparently easier to keep in check. ``All he did through the whole time was to sigh,'' said Maruyama, who exhaled deeply to illustrate.
Neither the Japanese golfer nor Rose, a 21-year-old Englishman, seemed fazed at being paired with Woods. Both got off to quick starts, completing the front nine in 4-under 32, and played the back in eight pars and a bogey.
``There is definitely an aura about him,'' said Rose, Europe's hottest player with four wins this year. ``I think the first time you play with him is an eye-opener, but I didn't get caught up in watching him or all the stuff that goes on around him.''
Toms might be the best PGA Tour player without a win this year. He lost a playoff to Sergio Garcia at the season-opener in Hawaii and owns six top-5 finishes. The Louisiana native was steady on the greens, holing three birdie putts of at least 15 feet.
``I know in the back of my mind that I've been able to win a major against a great field on a good golf course,'' said Toms, who outlasted Mickelson at the PGA. ``I'm disappointed when I don't play well.''
Waldorf, meanwhile, adds some color to the leaderboard with his bright flowered print shirts. The California native went conservative in his play, though, and was rewarded as the only golfer to play bogey-free Thursday.
Long after Toms and Waldorf finished, Pettersson joined the trio. A birdie at the par-5 17th gave him the chance to end the day as the leader, but he bogeyed No. 18 after finding the rough.
The day's goofiest story might have been Des Smyth, who went from nearly withdrawing to joining the logjam at 68. The 49-year-old Irishman has fought back spasms all week after an an ill-fated nap Monday in the Muirfield parking lot.
``My only fear was I wouldn't tee it up,'' he said. ``I didn't think I'd play so well.''
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© 2002, The Miami Herald.
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