The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Austin on firm footing to lead seniors
Woody keen to stay out of Carnoustie water
Woody Austin is best remembered for his President’s Cup pratfall in 2007 but he steered well clear of British golf’s most famous water hazard on his way to the lead of the Senior Open at Carnoustie yesterday.
The American won four times on the PGA Tour in a solid career and three times on the Champions Tour this year alone but still he is still remembered for partnering Tiger Woods in the President’s Cup at Royal Montreal, when he tried to play a shot out of the lake, lost balance, and tumbled face first into the water.
“I still get people shouting to stay away from the water, wondering if I brought my goggles,” he said after he avoided the Barry Burn during yesterday’s four-under 68, which snapped a tie of eight players at the top of the leaderboard.
“People won’t letme hear the end of that, ‘do I still have my goggles’, ‘ stay away from the water’, ‘don’t fall in’. It’s nearly 10 years ago now.”
Eighteen players are covered by two shots after a first day which was not among Carnoustie’s most brutal but offered a capricious wind that changed direction confusingly often.
Austin might have slipped away himself after successive bogeys at 9 and 10, not an uncommon double at Carnoustie, left him at level par.
“But all of a sudden, my swing showed up,” he said, and he birdied four of the next six holes, including the 16th which got him that little edge over the opposition.
It’s a varied cast chasing the man from Florida, with former Open champion Mark O’Meara, Australia’s Peter Fowler, Mexican Esteban Toledo – Sandy Lyle’s caddie at the Masters this year but eight shots better than his pal yesterday – among those there.
Jesper Parnevik and Brad Faxon are in the group on two-under, while the tournament favourites, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Bernhard Langer, are well in touch at two under and one under respectively.
The charismatic Spaniard more than pleased with his two-under score, constructed almost entirely on his eagle 2 at the 14th.
“Under par is always good, I always say the same thing,” he said. “I thought under par was good on this course.
“The conditions are perfect. The wind is changing a little bit on the par 3, the 13th, and then it was changing back to the south west. Butthe conditions are amazing to play golf.
“I feel positive for tomorrow and day after tomorrow.”
Langer finished early but felt that four under would probably lead – he was dead right – and felt his 71 would be well in touch.
“The wind was a challenge, it was fairly strong earlier on and then it flipped twice in the middle of the round, which caught us off guard a little bit,” he said. “But I’m right there. You can’t win the tournament the first day. You can lose it by messing up real bad, but there’s a lot of golf to be played yet.”
Scot Colin bid for a first Senior Open title in his first attempt on home soil began in ignominious fashion, his four-over 76 finishing with a dunk in the Barry Burn at the last, where a 5 was a decent score in the circumstances.
It ensured he was not the worst score of the group, as Tom Watson, after a fine run of three birdies in five holes, finished bogey-double bogey, following Monty into the final sweep of the burn with his second shot into the last to match Monty’s score of 76.
Low man of the group was John Daly with a par round of 72.