Tiger Woods says he has ambitions of getting “something going at the weekend”, but even making the cut now feels close to fantasy for the limping legend, after he recorded a disastrous eight-over-par 79 in the first round at Royal Troon.
The crowds were out to cheer on the three-time Open champion in the grey of the Scottish summer, but there was sympathy and even mockery mixed in with the standing ovations. Woods looked sore, he looked miserable and, most importantly, he looked way off the pace as he struggled to keep up with the contender Xander Schauffele, even in walking around the course.
Woods was frank about the nature of his round, even if his hopes for the next day seemed optimistic. “I had, what, three putts?” he said after returning to the clubhouse. “I didn’t hit my iron very close and I didn’t give myself a whole lot of looks today. So maybe shoot something in the mid-60s tomorrow, to get something going on the weekend.”
The 48-year-old finished the day tied for 138th place and while his legend suggests anything is possible, the experience of watching him labour around the course says a fairytale is unlikely. With temperatures hovering at around 16C, Woods spent much of his time trying to keep the muscles of his back and shoulders warm and often appeared to be wincing from his movements. He also showed little to no emotion as he made his way around the course; not even frustration, as almost every part of his game let him down.
It all began steadily enough, with a birdie at the par-four 3rd. A 219-yard drive was followed by an approach shot that sat up keenly on the green and Woods tidied up with a calm putt from 12 yards. He later acknowledged, however, that this was the only satisfying hole of 18 and he went on to bogey the 4th, the 5th (a double) and then the 7th and 8th too to go out in 40.
Matters were to improve only marginally on the way back, despite the heavy winds that had disrupted play in the morning having dropped away. A delay at the tee of the 11th seemed to have a particular effect. As the three-ball of Woods, Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay were forced to stand and wait as a camera tower was dismantled to clear the line of sight for Wyndham Clark in the group ahead, you could almost see Woods’s muscles freeze up. His drive went off into the railway, he struggled to pick up his tee and another double bogey followed.
Woods lost another shot at the 12th, then clawed one back at the 13th and for a moment optimism was in the air. Fans were shouting “Big cat!”, before miaowing timorously behind their hands, or “Keep grinding”, then chuckling among themselves. A genuine standing ovation awaited him when he reached the end of his round but by then he had already made bogey on the 17th and he dropped one more in front of the grandstands of the 18th.
Woods said any physical concerns were just due to a lack of conditioning. “I’m physically feeling a lot better than I did at the beginning of the year”, he said. “After the end of last year it was tough, and then I haven’t played a whole lot. I think that as the year has gone, I have gotten better. I wish I could have played a little bit more, but I’ve just been saving it for the majors just in case [I injure myself in another tournament] and then take myself out of it.” His fans must hope he has been saving something a little beyond what he has offered so far.
