Thursday, May 18, 2000
Woods has advice for unruly
spectators at Deutsche Bank Open; 3 off lead
By ROY KAMMERER
Associated Press Writer
ALVESLOHE, Germany (AP) — Tiger Woods
had some advice on how to handle an unruly German crowd that followed
him Thursday during first-round play at the Deutsche Bank Open.
With Spanish Ryder Cup player Miguel Angel
Jimenez holding a one-stroke lead over a trio of players at 5-under
67, Woods overcame bogeys on his first two holes to finish with
a 70 at the $2.3 million event.
But Woods, the star attraction in a tournament
that also features the entire European Ryder Cup team, had to
deal with camera flashes during his swing and spectators wandering
onto the fairways.
“The problem can be solved very easily.
In the States we have a one arm length rule — one away from
the ropes,” Woods said. “Here it's a little bit different.
They walk in the middle of the fairways and stand right in front
of you.”
But Woods still was satisfied with his round,
as stiff wind toughened up a flat, easy Gut Kaden course, scattering
four birdies and four bogeys and chipping in from 25 yards for
an eighth-hole eagle.
“It was a solid round of golf,”
said Woods, the defending champion. “I got off to a poor
start and played well after that.
Jimenez sank a final-hole birdie putt to
pull ahead of British Open champion Paul Lawrie, France's Jean
Van de Velde and South Africa's Retief Goosen at 4-under-68.
Woods, reportedly being paid $1 million
in appearance money, also played with a Nike ball for the first
time in an event. That's likely to further strain his relationship
with Titleist, who holds his contract, in the well-publicized
tug-of-war over the superstar's services.
“I've been testing it for a few months,”
said Woods of the new ball. “Basically I wanted a test round
on the tour. If I think it's viable to switch, I'll switch. If
not, I'll go back to my ball.”
Despite the presence of eight of the world's
top 20 players, it was clear who spectators wanted to see, with
more than 2,000 following Woods and his playing partners, Sergio
Garcia and Lee Westwood.
The threesome was slapped with a warning
for slow play on the 16th hole, as the spectators proved particularly
unruly.
“It's hard to play fast when there
are so many people inside the ropes and photographers walking
down the middle of the fairway,” said Woods. “I had
some problems with the cameras a few times. They got me on my
downswing at hole No. 8 eight with a flash.”
Then again, most of the 9,000 spectators
for the day showed up shortly after Woods' 8:10 a.m. starting
time. That's double the normal opening day attendance for a German
tournament.
Jesper Parnevik, coming off his title Sunday
at the Byron Nelson Classic, was at 70, Colin Montgomerie struggled
to a 1-over 73, Westwood shot a 71 and Garcia finished at par
72 after dropping a shot on No. 18.
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