Tiger impresses as Muirfield minefield scaring the stars
The list of post-war Open champions at Muirfield is a who’s who of golf’s greats, from Henry Cotton in 1948 through Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo (twice) to Ernie Els in 2002. And if yesterday’s opening round is anything to go by, it could well be an existing major champion, or at the very least a seasoned campaigner, who lifts the Claret Jug come Sunday evening.
There would be no more fitting addition to the Muirfield honour roll than 14-time major winner Tiger Woods, who begins today’s second round just three shots off the pace set by 18-hole leader Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion at five under par following an opening 66.
Woods’s round of 69 on a day of high temperatures and fast-drying, quickening conditions and slick greens that some players felt were getting close to unplayable, was a truly grinding display in the company of Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, who produced an equally gritty though less rewarding 76.
The world number one and three-time Open champion, whose last major victory on this side of the Atlantic came under similar conditions at Hoylake in 2006, got off to a bumpy start, taking a provisional ball off the first tee after his first shot of the tournament veered wildly left into deep rough on the way to bogey. Woods went out in 37, one over par, but completed his inward nine with four birdies and a bogey to finish two under.
“It was tough,” Woods said. “The golf course progressively got more dried out and more difficult as we played. And I’m very pleased to shoot anything even par or better.
“The golf course just kept drying out. And it was so hard to get the ball close, even lag putt and try to get the ball the right speed. It was very difficult. And I tried to keep the ball in front of me as best I could. And hole a putt if I could, if I could keep it below the hole. But, again, it was so difficult to get the ball even below the hole and in the right spot.”
Woods’s playing partner McDowell, who had become Ireland’s leading hope after Rory McIlroy’s opening 79 quickly knocked the reigning PGA champion out of contention, also dug in for a tough afternoon in the trying conditions but despite his frustrations refused to join the criticism of either the pin positions or the set-up.
“I don’t want to stand here and criticise the set-up,” McDowell said. “That would be wrong of me to do so. There’s guys making a score out there. Like I said Tiger’s two-under was impressive. Frankie Molinari is behind us and shooting two-under. You have to be very patient and very conservative and keep the ball on the correct side of the pins. The only thing I did wrong this afternoon was compound the errors when I did get out of position, trying to be smart and just very hard to control it out of this rough in these firm, fast fairways. That was disappointing, I’ll regroup and get back out there in the morning.”
Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, has been steadily improving his Open credentials, the American finishing in a tie for 16th at Royal St George’s in 2011 and then tied for ninth 12 months ago at Lytham.
Yesterday the 37-year-old shot an opening 66 that suggested he intends to continue that ascent to a second major victory of his career this week. Johnson, enjoying the best of the conditions in the morning, got off to a hot start with a birdie at the par-four third and then an eagle three at the fifth before adding consecutive birdies on six and seven and reaching the turn in 31, five under par.
The back nine was more of a grind but the Iowan kept his composure having cancelled out a birdie at the par-four 12th with a bogey five two holes later to par his way home for a five-under round. He leads by just one stroke from 1998 Open champion, the 56-year-old Mark O’Meara, and Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello with another Spaniard, Miguel Angel Jimenez, in a five-man group a further shot off the pace. Jimenez, India’s Shiv Kapur, who briefly led at six under, and a trio of Americans, Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedeker and Tom Lehman, the 54-year-old 1996 Open champion, each posted three-under 68s.
Both Woods and Phil Mickelson are in a group also including 2004 Open champion Todd Hamilton and double major champion Angel Cabrera, three shots off the lead at two under.
The heat was obviously getting to some players, with Ian Poulter calling some pin positions “a joke” and tweeting: “18th needs a windmill & clown face” while former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel snapped a club in frustration after venturing into the deep rough. Masters champion Adam Scott, who blew a four-shot lead at Lytham over the final four holes last year and finished second, three-putted the last to finish level par while the man who claimed the Claret Jug last year, Ernie Els, began his defence with a three-over 74, with US Open champion Justin Rose a shot worse off.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
