Tiger Woods lied. Okay, he was just mistaken.
It was like 2006 all over again. It was glorious out at Hoylake. There was a Spanish-speaking player all over the place. Woods was constantly distracted by ringtones and camera clicks. And he still didn’t take out the driver.
That much was the same as eight years ago. The difference is what makes his first round remarkable Woods shot 69 with just two rounds of competitive golf since major back surgery.
And he was that good because, after a couple of false starts at the second and fourth, he holed just about everything put in front of him on the greens. If that old ability is like it was in 2006, Tiger can even be competitive here when a lot of people thought he’d do well to make the cut.
After a bogey-bogey start, Tiger had only one other on his card, at the very tough 14th. He had six birdies, five of them in a six-hole burst down the back nine.
He did actually use driver at the 16th and didn’t hit a really good one, but his short game recovered the birdie.
There was also a snap hook with the rescue of the 14th tee, which brought the bogey that interrupted his birdie blitz. And his shot into 18, after backing off it twice due to distractions in the gallery, found a bunker with a devilish stance that left him no chance to get up and down.
But there were two successive six-irons that were just sublime. And after one three-putt on the second and a poor one from off the green on the fourth, he holed just about everything.
Still, three-under is none too shabby, and he certainly outplayed both his playing partners.
Angel Cabrera, as Sergio Garcia had done eight years ago, toiled all day, hit into the internal out of bounds at the 3rd and eventually had a 76.
Henrik Stenson, well backed here, snapped a wedge over his knee while moving up the left rough of the 17th in instalments, although he salvaged a par 72.
Woods, meanwhile, was satisfied, as he should have been in the circumstances.
“It wasn’t exactly the greatest of starts, but I turned it around, ground my way around,” he said.
“Even though I was two-over through two, I still had the four par fives and a couple of shorter holes to go, so if I played those holes well, I could get under par.”
That puts him in a good position for today and onwards, he reckons.
“I’m not going to be the only guy to make bogeys, I just got mine out of the way early,” he said.
“We’re going to be bunched up (tomorrow). The forecast the next two days is supposed to be iffy. There’s going to be a ton of players two-under, four-under. That’s the way it’s going to be.”
In the meantime, his least favourite memory of 2006 returned as well.
Tiger has never been happy about the loosening of regulations about the use of mobile phones on course in both the PGA Tour and the Open since 2012, and his demeanour was not improved.
“People were taking pictures all day,” he complained. “There were a lot of cameras out there. People just don’t put their phones on silent or some of the professionals were getting on the trigger too early.
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“I just wish they’d put it on silent. I’ve had numerous years of dealing with this, there’s a lot of moving parts out there (when he’s playing). You just have to stay focused.”
Tiger’s back survived a couple of good howks out of the rough without damage, but the remaining question is if it can take the strain for four straight days.
He went straight for physio work after his round and, given his lack of competitive playing time, no matter how much iron he pumps in the Hoylake Fire Station gym his stamina has got to be in doubt.
Still, this was a more than decent point to start from.
And he’s already become much more than just a footnote in the 2014 Open.