| AP Sports Headlines |
Friday, July 19, 2002
By GLENN SHEELEY
Cox News Service
GULLANE, Scotland - Some trigger-happy photographers accomplished Thursday what nobody else has managed to do lately -- unnerve Tiger Woods in his quest for golf's Grand Slam.
Woods eventually righted himself for a 1-under-par 70 at Muirfield, despite lipping out several birdie putts. But his concentration clearly was broken at the start of the day.
Woods was miffed twice on Muirfield's tough opening hole when distracted by photographers. On the tee box, he stepped away from his ball, glaring back at the sea of cameras, then badly pushed a iron shot into the hay, about 30 yards off the fairway.
Amazingly, Woods was closer to the merchandise tent than the short grass of the fairway.
When Woods got to his ball, which was stuck in nearly knee-high grass, he thought a double-bogey might be forthcoming. Over the ball, he was distracted again, stepped away and fired some angry words back toward the photographers.
Woods was grouped with Japan's closely followed Shigeki Maruyama and England's Justin Rose, making the media coverage around Woods even heavier than normal.
"You guys taken enough pictures already?" Woods snapped from the high grass. "You took 'em on the first tee and now you're taking them now."
Seething, Woods managed to find the fairway with a full swing of his 60-degree wedge, pitched eight feet past the flag, and made the putt for par. Afterward, he called the noise "out of line."
Behind the 18th green, Woods' caddie, Steve Williams, was involved in a heated conversation with Woods' manager, Mark Steinberg, stressing that something has to be done about the camera commotion.
Although Woods said he understood the photographers had a job to do, he was upset with one late camera click at the tee box.
"He took the picture at an inappropriate time and I backed off the shot," said Woods. "I really wasn't committed to my line the second time around as I should have been, and consequently, I hit a poor tee shot."
Unfortunately for the overwhelming favorite, his putter was not as hot as his temper. Woods termed it "awfully frustrating" to birdie just three holes while making two bogeys.
"I hit a lot of beautiful putts that just grazed the edge and lipped out," said Woods. "I had six or seven lipouts today. If those go in, it could have been a pretty good round."
In what could emerge as one of the tournament's biggest upsets, Woods emerged as high man in his threesome. Rose and Maruyama both carded 3-under 68s. Although it's usually a distraction to play with Woods, the surrounding crowds were not nearly as huge as was the case last month at the U.S. Open.
"I'm quite used to playing with Tiger Woods," Maruyama said, "and so I'm used to the rhythm that he plays golf. He lives in a different world from us in terms of the distance he hits and the kind of golf he plays, so it doesn't really bother me."
Glenn Sheeley writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Email gsheeley@ajc.com
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