The euphoria of the first tee didn’t last long. Probably only until the first shot came to rest.
Tiger Woods was brought back to the Old Course on a cushion of goodwill and a roar of recognition. You felt 7000 people around the first tee and 18th green at St Andrews exercising cumulative willpower to make this special.
Standing and screaming room only
It was standing – and screaming – room only. Kids were being held over the barriers to get a view on the tee.
But Tiger had an ugly chunk of a tee shot with a three-iron, almost taking a divot out of the celebrated tee ground. And his ball rolled too far.
“It’s in a divot,” said Sky’s on course commentator Wayne ‘Radar’ Riley as he passed a gaggle of writers who had crossed the Swilcan Burn ahead. “But it’s not a bad divot.”
Bad enough. There was a cloud of sand when he hit his ball causing him to avert his eyes. Fat, one bounce, into the water.
With the flag just a few feet from the burn, it was a tricky chip. Four feet past, missed the return. Double-bogey six.
It really sucked the life out of the whole afternoon.
More toils at the 7th
412 yards❗️@TigerWoods hit the longest tee shot of the day @TheOpen on No. 14. pic.twitter.com/iXu344FDrt
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 14, 2022
Looking a little more upright through the ball than we’ve been accustomed to – this is Tiger swing version 6.0 or 7.0, I’ve lost count – it was a struggle from then on. Two more bogeys before he doubled the 7th.
It’s never the most threatening hole on the Old Course, but found one of the bunkers on the 12th fairway almost no-one ever goes in.
There was encouraging signs as he birdied 9 and 10, easy meat to him now as they were during the Opens of 2000 and 2005. But he three-stabbed 11, missed a five-footer for birdie on 12, and then three-putted 13.
Tiger didn’t seem as restricted physically as at Augusta and Southern Hills, or even the beginning of this week. But the pained expression of the first few holes had given way to resigned smile of acceptance even by the time he lashed a 400-plus-yard drive on 14.
By that time the pace of play had become downright funereal, but like the funeral was for a communist dictator. As the time played ticked towards six hours, Tiger parred the 17th but was visibly hirpling.
The tee shot at the 18th didn’t clear the Valley of Sin. And he took three more to get down to finish with a 78. It was his worst round as a pro in an Open at St Andrews.
“It feels like I didn’t really hit it that bad,” he said. “I did have bad speed on the greens, yes. But I didn’t really feel like I hit it that bad but I ended up in bad spots.
“Just had some weird things happen. Links is like that. And this golf course is like that. And as I said, I had my chances to turn it around and get it rolling the right way and I didn’t do it.”
The crowd’s support did hearten him.
“They were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. So supportive,” he said.
“Just the support coming off each tee and each green, when they were in proximity. They were very respectful and very appreciative of all of us out there today, which was great.”