Luiten takes Oman Open after nip and tuck tussle

much as you think.’ Just stuff like that, stuff they don’t have to say. Whoever is teeing off at 8:30 in the morning doesn’t get that and can just go about his business and do his thing. That’s tough. Tiger has to deal with that every single time he goes out to play.”

A couple of shots wouldn’t have saved Woods from missing the cut at the Genesis Open, after opening rounds of 72 and 76, but the 14-time major winner believes he has paid a price through his career for the pocket of disruptive fans he seems to attract.

“It’s cost me a lot of shots over the years,” Woods said. “It’s been a lot because all it takes is one shot on a Thursday and you lose the tournament by a shot on Sunday.

“What people don’t realise, it’s not just something that happens on Sunday afternoon – this is cumulative and it’s par for the course. But I’ve dealt with it for a very long time.”

Despite those frustrations, Woods was not despondent about his performance at what has traditionally been a course which yields little for his game.

“I haven’t played golf in years, but I’m starting to come back and it’s going to take a little time. I’m progressing and starting to get a feel for tournament golf again. I just need to clean up my rounds.” Shake and stir: Rory McIlroy hit out at rowdy spectators who disrupted his round with Tiger Woods in the Genesis tournament in California JOOST Luiten fired a closing 68 to hold off the challenge of England’s Chris Wood and win the inaugural NBO Oman Open.

The Dutchman entered Sunday one shot ahead of Wood in a share of the lead but the two could not be separated at the turn.

The duo enjoyed an enthralling nip-and-tuck battle down the back nine but when Luiten holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th to get to 16 under and Wood bogeyed the next, the title was Luiten’s.

Wood finished alone in second at 14 under and it was an encouraging return to form the 2016 Ryder Cup player, who had missed his first three cuts.

Frenchman Julien Guerrier finished third at 13 under, with England’s Robert Rock three shots further back, one ahead of countryman Matthew Southgate and Scot Stephen Gallacher.

Darren Clarke, who made back-to-back European Tour cuts for the first time since 2016, closed with rounds of 78 and 75 to finish tied 61st on four-over par.