Tiger Woods pale shadow of former self at The Open

Barely had the tears dried and the emotions been choked back from Wednesday’s farewell to St Andrews by Arnold Palmer when it felt like you needed to start them all over again in Thursday’s opening round of the 144th Open Championship.

Was that Tiger Woods bidding goodbye as a serious competitor in the grandest tournament of them all?

Surely, the one-time icon, he of the two Claret Jugs won right here at the Old Course, is a shell of his once invincible self and hardly did he inspire anyone in attendance to think that a return to St Andrews had rejuvenated him.