GIFT FROM THE GODS AS TIGER ROLLS BACK THE YEARS
RORy McIlROy took the high road with his driver and earned the good fortune his gutsy strategy deserved. Tiger Woods took the low road with his ‘stinger’ iron shots and filled the air with a nostalgic glow.
On a slow burner of an opening round at the 147th Open, it was the vastly different approaches exhibited by the two biggest draws as the shadows lengthened that finally gave the proceedings a compelling edge.
For McIlroy, it was something of a rewind to his Open debut here in 2007 when he shot 68, compared to 69 yesterday. Not only did he stick to his promise to play aggressively, he kept his vow to keep smiling through the missed putts, even if it was through gritted teeth on occasion.
For Woods, who woke up with a stiff neck and wore therapeutic tape on the affected area, it was impossible not to think back to his victory in 2006 at Hoylake, when he used his driver once all week. Here he resisted temptation when it presented itself and came up with a shot-making clinic over the front nine, as he turned in two under par. In his first appearance in the Championship since 2015, and after all he’s been through with his back, this truly felt like a gift from the gods.
On the back nine there were a couple of unforced errors but a 71 still felt like an encouraging start.
Only time will tell if he has three more good rounds in him and the likelihood of playing in the rain this morning will be an obvious challenge. But this was a largely joyous start from the moment he walked to the first tee and received surely the most rapturous reception any great champion has received before he has even played a shot.
While most players copied Tiger and took the conservative route off the tee, Jon Rahm out-Rory’d Rory and went for everything.
On the third he truly channelled his inner Seve, somehow blasting a driver 320 yards over a burn and yet still stopping it on the green a matter of another 20 yards or so away. The margin of error was so tiny, those who witnessed it will not forget the moment easily.
Then there was US Open champion Brooks Koepka, who began by driving the 398-yard opening hole, fell apart over the closing holes of his front nine before assembling a spectacular rally to complete a decidedly rollercoaster 72.
He fared a lot better than his friend Dustin Johnson, as the world No 1 subsided to a 76 after a triple bogey at the 18th. Another surprising casualty was Masters champion Patrick Reed, who shot 75, as did Sergio Garcia as he suffered a further Carnoustie calamity.
Other than McIlroy, the hopedfor British and Irish challenge never materialised in great numbers either, with links specialist Matt Southgate and renaissance man Danny Willett faring best in matching Rory’s score, while Bristolian Chris Wood shot 70.
The heavily favoured Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose have work to do after both shot 72, while Tyrrell Hatton needed to come home in 34 shots for a 74.
What of Kevin Kisner, the quiet American at the top of the leaderboard?
Given he has spent plenty of time over the past 12 months staring at the Claret Jug held by his mate Jordan Spieth, it’s perhaps not surprising that Kisner was suitably inspired to card his pace-setting score of 66 for a one-shot lead over South African pair Zander lombard and Erik van Rooyen, and fellow countryman Tony Finau.
Kisner flew home with Spieth following the Texan’s victory last year, and flew back with him last Thursday when they took in a reconnaissance mission to the Ryder Cup course in Paris. They are also part of a seven-strong group sharing two adjacent rental homes, so you can probably imagine that Kisner was a touch relieved when Spieth finally had to give the Claret Jug back on Monday.
‘yes, you could say it would be cool to return the favour and let him have to look at it a little bit,’ said the underrated 34-year- old from South Carolina.
If that wasn’t sufficient motivation, another player who is part of the frat party is Justin Thomas, who defeated Kisner down the stretch to win the US PGA at Quail Hollow last August.
Also part of the rental group are two former US PGA winners in Jason Dufner and Jimmy Walker, and former Masters and Open champion Zach Johnson, so you can imagine what is running through the minds of Kisner and Rickie Fowler, the only other major-less winner in the house.
In an effort to keep loose in the evenings, they have been playing games of football, and Kisner conjured up a lovely image of Spieth ballooning the ball into another property on more than one occasion, before sheepishly knocking on the door and asking: ‘Could we have our ball back, please?’
On the course, Spieth ballooned a couple of balls of a different size to throw away the promise of being three under at one point and open his defence with a 72.
The 24-year-old felt it was a fair result. ‘If I’m honest, I thought I was stealing a couple before the brainfart at the 15th cost me a double bogey.’ In all, though, it
was a good day for the frat boys. Zach Johnson and Thomas, who are capable of taking Spieth’s crown, opened with rounds of 69, while Fowler shot a 70.
As for Kisner, he was blessed with an early tee-time and took full advantage of playing nearly all his round before the breeze picked up.
He managed to get around without a bogey on his card, which was quite a feat on a course so hard and fiery there were plenty of good shots suffering an unkind fate.
After the fire, we’re promised the water today, and it will be fascinating to see how they all fare in the promised rain.