Woods shoots even par
Kisner leads by one after a first-round 5-under 66 at Carnoustie.
Tiger Woods steadied his creaking back nine with three straight pars in the final holes to shoot an even-par 71 in his opening round at Carnoustie.
Playing his first British Open since 2015, Woods birdied two of his first four holes and was 2 under after picking up another shot at No. 11.
The 14-time major champion bogeyed Nos. 13 and 15, then scrambled well to par his way home.
Woods was five shots off the lead held by Kevin Kisner.
Woods teed off to a rousing ovation on the first tee at Carnoustie, wearing a pair of kinesiology tape strips on the back of his neck because of soreness.
He fired an iron down the crispy fairway and a wedge that settled 8 feet left of the cup that he made for birdie.
The last time he was seen at the Open, Woods shot 75 at St. Andrews to miss the cut. It was a much better start than his
last major, where Woods opened with a triple bogey in the U.S. Open at Shinne- cock Hills last month.
Woods downplayed any concerns about his neck. “It’s no big deal,” he said, “you’ve just got to play.”
Kisner took advantage of light winds and warm temperatures to shoot a 5-under 66 and take the early lead.
The American needed only 22 putts as he made his way around the Carnoustie links, where wispy rough and fast fairways made for low scores among the early groups. He had a one-shot lead over Erik Van Rooyen, a South African who shot 67.
Kisner was 1 over going into the fifth hole when he hit a 3-iron onto the par-5 and sunk a long putt for eagle. He would go on to make four more birdies, then finished with a string of pars on the difficult final holes at Carnoustie.
“If I can keep it in the fair- way, I feel like I can con- trol my golf ball around the green,” he said. “The greens are calm, and around the greens are flat. I feel like any time I’m around the green I’m going to make 4 or par at the worst. So that’s been my game plan.”
Kisner, who is staying with defending champion Jordan Spieth and several other players at a house near the course, said they have been enjoying nightly soccer matches in the yard. But he was up early for his morning tee time, and took advantage of the benign conditions.
“You’re always trying to get it in and get it in as low as you can because you never know what the next day is going to have,” Kisner said of the conditions.
Danny Willett, who hasn’t had a victory since surpris- ingly winning the Masters in 2016, shot a 69 and was three shots back.
After opening his first round with a bogey, Willett rolled in five birdies to reach 4 under after 13 holes.
A mixture of injuries and a swing change saw Wil- lett plunge from inside the world’s top 10 to outside the top 400. He’s currently No. 320.
Van Rooyen enjoyed his first round at a British Open — except for the final hole.
The 28-year-old South Afri- can went out at 6:46 a.m. in the second group and set the clubhouse target after a 4-under 67. The only shot the Open rookie dropped came at the last after he found a bunker with his drive.
Van Rooyen has recent form on the links: He was the 54-hole leader at the Irish Open two weeks ago and finished tied for fourth.
Sandy Lyle of Scotland was chosen to hit the opening tee shot Thursday morning under a gray sky off the North Sea. He sent a mid-iron roll- ing along the crusty turf of Carnoustie to start the 147th playing of the British Open.
Lyle won the Open in 1985. Also in the opening group was two-time major champion Martin Kaymer and Andy Sullivan. They faced a course that was more yellow than green because of the unusually dry summer in Scotland.
Carnoustie has been called “Car-Nasty” in recent Opens because it is considered the toughest links in the Open rotation. This year’s champi- onship was more of a mystery going into the first round.