Tiger Woods plodded along most of the day. He lipped out a putt from 2½ feet. He settled for a bunch of pars.
Then, with his final stroke, he looked like the Tiger of old. Woods rolled in a 15-footer for birdie on Muirfield’s tough closing hole Friday, raising his putter toward the blue sky with a flourish, fully aware he was positioned again to break the longest major drought of his career. “It will be a fun weekend,” Wood said. “This golf course is going to be difficult.”
He finished with an even-par 71 that looked pretty good under the circumstances. This was another day for surviving the perilous, rock-hard setup, and Woods walked to the clubhouse just three shots behind first-round leader Zach Johnson, one of the last guys to tee off. Not bad, considering Woods went through a stretch of 12 holes without a birdie before stealing one at the 18th. “I was kind of fighting it,” he said.
Everyone was. lee Westwood was one of the few morning starters to put up a score in the 60s, but even he was staggering a bit by the end. After a brilliant front nine — he carded five birdies — the Englishman bogeyed three of the last six holes to finish with a 68.
Still, he joined Woods at 2-under 140 overall, solidly in contention for his first major title. The last English golfer to win the British Open was Nick Faldo in 1992. “Why not enjoy it out thereIJ” Westwood said. “It’s tough for everybody. So smile your way through.” Woods is trying to break a drought of his own. He’s 0-for-20 at majors since the 2008 U.S. Open. Whoever wins this one will have to earn it. The weather has been unseasonably warm and dry, the fearsome wind not much more than a gentle breeze, and it was expected to stay that way through the weekend. Even so, there weren’t many chances for going low, not on a tabletop of a course that is more brown than green, with pin conditions that some players complained were downright unfair.
Even though he started with a 69, Phil Mickelson was concerned about some hole locations being too close to the edge of slopes. He pleaded with the Royal & Ancient to let go of its ego and “just set the course up the way the best players can win.” Mark O’Meara, the 1998 Open champion, countered that he’s played in much tougher conditions, perhaps emboldened by a surprising 67 that left him one stroke behind Johnson. But the course bit back Friday, sending the 56-year-old tumbling out of contention. He lost his ball at No. 6, leading to a double-bogey, and stumbled to the finish with a 78.
“It’s pretty simple: If you don’t hit it good in an Open championship with the rough the way it is out there, you’re going to make some bogeys,” O’Meara said. “The short game is key. You have to putt well. I did none of those well.” O’Meara wasn’t the only old-timer to fall back. Fifty-four-year-old Tom lehman followed a 68 Thursday with a 77 less than 24 hours later.
The young weren’t spared, either. Jordan Spieth, the 19-year-old who last weekend became the PGA Tour’s youngest winner since 1931, made only two bogeys through his first 32 holes and was 3 under. Then came a double-bogey at the 15th, back-to-back bogeys at the next two holes, and a missed chance at No. 18 when a 4-footer for birdie slid by the cup. Just like that, the youngster found himself at 1-over 143. Spieth conceded that he got a little bored making all those pars. “Yesterday, I was for some reason extremely patient with just taking my 30-footers and just trying to give myself tap-ins and not worrying about making birdies,” he said. “Today I finally got to a point where I had enough and wanted to really hit it closer. And that’s what happens when you try.”