THE HIT CROWD

Tiger fires into startled gallery but is right in the hunt

TIGER WOODS gave the Carnoustie crowd a scare – by scything a miss-hit into the gallery at close range. But the three-time Open champion recovered to finish level-par, insisting: “I’m still right in it.” Woods was followed to a packed gallery, but ended up slashing into his supporters on the par-four second. They had been warned to step back as Woods lined up in the rough with an unusual stance aiming at the crowd but wanting to hook it back to the fairway. Instead the ball fired out at the crowd and it ended up trundling along the path, as he went on to finish with four birdies and four bogeys on level-par 71. The way Woods lined up at the crowd was a shock, but he explained: “I kept moving them back. If you noticed, I moved them back about 40 yards. “I was trying to play for the grass to wrap the shaft around there and hit it left. I was just trying to hold the face open as much as I possibly could. It grabbed the shaft and smothered it. I was very, very fortunate that it got far enough down there where I had a full wedge into the green.”

Woods (below) is playing his first Open since 2015 and was content with his level-par start.

He said: “It will be a pretty packed leaderboard, and I’m certainly right there in it. I played a little bit better yesterday.

“Today wasn’t quite as good, but I finally birdied the par 5 so that’s a positive.

“Right now I’m six back, and by day’s end, I think I’ll be more than that.

“I could have cleaned up the round just a little bit. I didn’t get off to exactly the best start, being two-over through three, but got it back.

“The course was a little bit softer today, obviously. It rained, and we were able to get the ball down a little bit further, control the ball on the ground a little bit easier today, which was nice, and certainly birdies could be had.

Woods says he is encouraged by the level of support he is getting after three years out recovering from injury.

He added: “You know, it’s incredible because I’ve had most of my success, obviously, twice over at St. Andrews.

“I’ve played well in Scotland, and I haven’t played in The Open Championship for a couple of years.

“It’s fantastic to have the support we’ve had. For as many people that came out in the rain today to support us, and obviously, 9 is one of the furthest points on the golf course, and they walked all the way around cheering for us. Certainly, it’s very appreciated.

“It was nice it slowed the golf course down.

“Most of the good scores yesterday were in the morning, and they had no wind, and they had very little wind this afternoon with a softer golf course.

“But we certainly had a chance to get the ball down a little bit further and control it on the ground a little bit better.

“The ball wasn’t rolling 80, 90 yards like it was yesterday. It was a little bit easier in that regard.”

Woods then went to pump some iron, explaining: “I’m not going to practise after this round. I’m going to work out, go to the gym, and get my lift in. Be ready for Saturday.”