Tiger still has hunger pangs

FOUR rounds like this and it's looking good. That was the summation of Tiger Woods after he opened his US Open challenge with an even par 70 at Pinehurst yesterday.

With three days still to go, the 5/1 pre-championship favourite was taking little notice of those ahead of him, not defending champion Retief Goosen who played beautifully for a 68 - and certainly not the three under par pacesetters Olin Browne and Rocco Mediate. Neither has what it takes to stay the demanding pace but the 46-year-old Browne is proving one of the stories of the week after revealing the remarkable circumstances under which he got here.

"After I shot 73 in the first round of the qualifier, I enquired if there was an appropriate way for me to withdraw," he said. "I thought I'd need 62 to make it and that didn't seem to be on the cards. I decided to play nine to see how it went and managed to shoot 30 and ended up with a 59.