|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
|
 Quick learner Woods' smart golf yields 65, share of British Open lead
Posted: Thursday July 16, 1998 10:59 PM
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) -- As a boy, when Tiger Woods studied his handmade chart of all that Jack Nicklaus accomplished, he must have wondered what took him so long to win the British Open. It started to sink in last year, when the nuances of links golf took a toll on the 21-year-old Masters champion. On Thursday at Royal Birkdale, Woods showed he learned his lessons well. With play that was as steady as it was brilliant, Woods steered clear of trouble for a 5-under-par 65, giving him a share of the first-round lead with John Huston on an unusually warm, sunny day. "It's just one of those things where I think I learned to play smart golf," said Woods, who hasn't been in the lead at a major since winning at Augusta National last year. Nick Price, the best player in the world from 1992 to 1994 when he won three majors and nine PGA Tour events, finally made some putts in his round of 66 that left him one stroke back, along with Fred Couples and Loren Roberts. Couples adjusted his game for the calmer winds off the Irish Sea, then surged up the leader board by hitting fairways and holing a 15-foot (4 1/2-meter) eagle putt on No. 15. "It really wasn't that hard if you kept the ball in play," Couples said. "You're not going to shoot 66 out here every day, but it gives me a chance to have a poor round." PGA champion Davis Love III, in his first tournament since missing the cut at the U.S. Open, was 3 under on the difficult back nine and finished at 67, along with Brad Faxon, Vijay Singh, Robert Allenby and Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson. Twenty-seven players managed to break par on a day when a stiff breeze cleared away the dark, drooping clouds over the Lancashire coast but had only a marginal effect on club selection. Huston followed nine straight pars with three birdies, all from inside 12 feet. After his only bogey, from the bunker at the par-3 14th, Huston holed a 40-foot (12-meter) eagle putt on No. 17 and then hacked a 7-iron out of the rough to within 4 feet (1.2 meters) for birdie on the 18th.
"Just to finish that way, obviously, is pretty pleasing," said Huston, who earlier this year set the PGA Tour scoring record with a 28-under 260 at the Hawaiian Open. The awesome power of Woods was evident throughout, but he showed so much more than length: the bump-and-run chips with a 7-iron to save par; the feel out of the meadow rye rough the few times he strayed from the fairway; the knowledge of when to pull the driver from his bag. "It is just learning how to play golf," Woods said. "I think it's an evolution process that I think every player goes through. I'm no exception to that." Woods was done in at Royal Troon last year by two double bogeys and a triple bogey, finishing tied for 24th. He flirted with trouble just twice at Birkdale, saving par twice from the fairway rough. The second time came on the 16th hole, just 20 yards (18 meters) past a plaque that honors Arnold Palmer's brilliant play from the rough in the final round of his 1961 Open championship. Woods' only two bogeys came on short putts that banged off the back lip, the last one a 6 footer (1.8 meters) on the 18th hole that kept him from equaling the 64 he shot in the third round last year at Troon. He also finally made some putts, something that has kept him to only two wins in the past year. For that he could owe his best friend on tour, Masters champion Mark O'Meara, who recently gave him a new putter. "It's a little longer. I think it sets up for him a little better," O'Meara said. "Hopefully, if he continues to putt well, I'll get a commission." Woods' advantage has always been his length. Realizing the rough around the green on the ninth hole was not severe, Woods hit his driver 24 yards (22 meters) from the front of the green to set up an easy birdie. The wind wasn't nearly as strong as it was earlier in the week, when it frightened the field into believing a score of even par or higher would be sufficient.
But that didn't keep everyone off the hook. Defending champion Justin Leonard twice failed to get out of the rough with a wedge and finished at 73. Tom Watson wound up in five bunkers and also shot 73, along with Colin Montgomerie. "I'm in a pretty good hole here," Leonard said. Ernie Els whiffed a wedge trying to get his ball out of the mangled rough around the 480-yard (437-meter) sixth hole and took a double bogey. He finished at 72, along with O'Meara, Nick Faldo and U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen. Lee Westwood was in a large group at 71. David Duval and Jim Furyk, two others in the 20-something class looking for their first major, were at 70. Sergio Garcia, the 18-year-old amateur from Spain, shot 69. Matt Kuchar managed more smiles in a rough round of 75. Woods made the chart of Nicklaus' accomplishments with hopes of matching them someday -- U.S. Amateur and NCAA champion, the 18 professional majors. Nicklaus won three of the four majors after two full years as a pro, but didn't win a British Open until his fifth year. Watson, a five-time Open champion, all but guaranteed earlier this week that Woods would win a Claret Jug in his career. Price was paired with Woods in the first round, and was not one to argue about his chances. "He's diligent enough to go out there and refine and round off the rough edges," Price said. "He's got so much talent. Just as Jack Nicklaus and all the great players before him have done, they've gotten better and better with age." Then he smiled, a combination of sarcasm and the frightful thought of the Woods evolution. "By the time he gets to 30, he's going to be a pretty good player." But there are sure to be other lessons along the way. And they could start Friday, with a forecast of rain and stronger winds capable of turning the 127th Open into a new test.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
