The 150th Open: Tiger Woods fails to produce major miracle as he struggles to opening-round 78

Tiger Woods struggled to a six-over 78 to leave him tied-146th after opening day at St Andrews and 14 strokes behind leader Cameron Young; watch the second round live on Friday from 6.30am on Sky Sports The Open

Tiger Woods’ bid for a historic 16th major title and third St Andrews success has turned into an unlikely battle just to make the cut after a disappointing opening day at The 150th Open.

Woods said ahead of the final men’s major of the year he wanted “at least one more run” on the historic Old Course, the venue where he completed the career Grand Slam in 2000 and won in 2005, although struggled from the outset as he stuttered to a six-over 78.

The three-time Champion Golfer of the Year, playing in just his third competitive event since last February’s car crash, mixed three birdies with five bogeys and two double-bogeys to leave just seven players below him in the 156-man field and put him 14 strokes behind early leader Cameron Young.

“Probably highest score as I could have shot,” said Woods. “Didn’t get off to a great start. Hit a good tee shot down 1,
ended up right in the middle of a fresh divot. And I hit a good shot. Wind gusts hit it and ended up in the burn, and start off with a W.

“So I think I had maybe four or five 3-putts today. Just wasn’t very good on the greens. And every putt I left short. I struggled with hitting the putts hard enough. They looked faster than what they were putting, and I struggled with it.

“It feels like I didn’t really hit it that bad. Yes, I did have bad speed on the greens, yes. But I didn’t really feel like I hit it that bad but I ended up in bad spots. Or just had some weird things happen.

“And just the way it goes. Links is like that. And this golf course is like that. And as I said, I had my chances to turn it around and get it rolling the right way and I didn’t do it.”

Woods’ hopes of a fairy-tale success suffered a nightmare start when he found water with his approach into the par-four first and then two-putted from inside five feet for a double-bogey six.

The world No 994 failed to get up and down from short of the third green and three-putted from distance at the par-four next, with a double-bogey at the seventh leaving an out-of-sorts Woods six over for his round.

Woods rolled in from six feet to reach the turn in 41 and post the first of back-to-back birdies around the turn, with the 46-year-old responding to three-putt bogeys at the 11th and 13th by picking up a shot from close range at the par-four next.

A missed par-save putt from nine feet at the 16th took Woods back to six over for the day, with the former world No 1 ending a disappointing day with a closing par despite nearly driving the final green.

The round – taking over six hours due to slow play – equals the highest opening round of Woods’ career at The Open, matching the 78 carded at Royal Portrush in 2019, with the poor start another frustration since his comeback from career-threatening leg and ankle injuries.

Woods stuttered to back-to-back rounds of 78 over the weekend at The Masters and withdrew ahead of the final round of the PGA Championship in May due to injury, before skipping the US Open last month to give himself the best chance of being physically ready to compete in The Open.

He will face a short recovery time ahead of his second-round tee time at 9.58am, where Woods is going to need to deliver a vintage Tiger-esque display to have any chance of extending his Open adventure into the weekend.

“Looks like I’m going to have to shoot 66 tomorrow to have a chance,” admitted Woods. “So obviously it has been done.

“Guys did it today. And that’s my responsibility tomorrow is to go ahead and do it. Need to do it.”

Watch The 150th Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports’ dedicated channel. Live coverage continues on Friday from 6.30am on Sky Sports The Open. Live at The Range, Featured Holes and Featured Groups will be available via the red button on Sky Sports The Open, along with the Sky Sports website and app.