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Tiger famously avoided all 112 bunkers when he won here in 2000, but he found sand on 6 and has to just play. He’s a tough watch this morning. The quick turnaround from his late finish last night clearly didn’t help and he generally looks in pain and far from 100%.
It’s a small consolation that he’s even par for the day after five holes, but he probably needs to play the final 13 in six under or better to make the cut. Make that seven under or better as he just dropped a 6 after his sand visit.
The pin on the par-5 5th hole is tucked away by Tom Daly during his most difficult Olympic dive. Jon Rahm wisely ignored the approach, smashing his second right onto the green before hitting a decent lag putt from a mile.
Rahm was certainly upset yesterday, but a great start has lifted his spirits and if he makes his second shot at 5 it will take the 2021 US Open champion to -2. And he does! Official Status: Lurking.
Speaking of Spaniards, Sergio birdies the other par 5 on the course, the 14th, and he’s -7 for his round! Garcia climbed 108 spots up the leaderboard this morning and with a 4-under total, he’s just four off the pace.
Updated at 11.38 BST
The question now is, will Cameron Young still lead when he kicks off at 1.26pm?
The chase pack grows and Scheffler makes a 15-foot birdie attempt on the 11th hole to extend the group at 6-under to five (Kim, Johnson, Scheffler, Hatton and McIlroy). They are two behind the leader, who exits in exactly two hours.
The best result currently belongs to Sergio Garcia. The 2017 Masters winner was among the top 10 at this event (10 of them from 2001 to 2016), but he has been virtually useless in the majors since he finally earned his first win at Augusta five years ago years.
But look at him going today: four birdies and an eagle in his first 12 holes. A par on 13 keeps him 6-under for the day and -3 overall after a poor opening round (75). Does it spoil it for me to say he’s another one who signed up for LIV?
Updated at 11.27 BST
11.16am BST leaderboard
Thanks Matt. It seems like birds are flying everywhere right now. In just the last few moments, Scotty Scheffler and Adam Scott have moved up to 10 and 11 respectively. Time for a ranking update.
-8: Young (-) -7: Gooch (14) -6: SW Kim (15), D Johnson (11), Hatton (10), McIlroy (-) -5: Scott (11), Scheffler (10 ) , Dinwiddie (-), Smith (-)
Scotty Scheffler on the 6th. Photo: Gerald Herbert/APAdam Scott on the 5th. Photo: Alastair Grant/AP
Updated at 11.18 BST
Tyrell Hatton’s hot streak continues. The birdie at the 10th was the fourth bogey in five holes and moved him to six under for the week. He is third. With that, I’m going to wander off and leave you in Dave’s safe hands.
High polish for Adrian Meronk. The story of the first Pole to play in the Open Championship became something of a topic yesterday, but he struggled on the course. Big difference today though. He made 13 pars and three birdies to give himself every chance of making the cut. He is level for the week and is 60th in the rankings. A par-birdie should get him into the weekend.
God bless Tiger. He misses a short money putt on the 4th and is back level for the round. He badly needs a spark. Meanwhile, playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick moves to two under for the day and week. Yesterday he was strangely grumpy and couldn’t budge anything. He seems more focused this morning.
Tyrell Hatton joins the party. A flurry of three birdies in the final four holes of the front nine took him to five under for the week. He has Old Course pedigree as a two-time winner of the Dunhill Links Championship – and is also a two-time top-6 finisher at the Open.
DJ spins them close. Dustin Johnson played the front nine in one under, his birdie on the 9th allowing him to join the hunted group of five under for the week. And now he turns his approach up the 10th green and the spin draws him close to the pin. He was the 18- and 36-hole leader at the Old Course in 2015 before a pair of 75s dashed his hopes.
Birdie for Tiger! He converted from about 25 feet on the 3rd. He’s five over for the week, so he probably needs a 66 (minimum) to get through the weekend. In other words, a long way.
Not much turnaround time for Jordan Spieth between rounds. His first lap, a poor (in both senses) 71, was completed almost after dark last night and he returned to the course just before eight o’clock. He left a birdie putt on the 1st ridiculously short, but saved a par and added a birdie on the 2nd. He’s down two for the week.
10.39am BST leaderboard
More on Harrington’s move. He birdied the 1st and then again the 2nd. He is five under for the week. -8: Young (-) -6: Gooch (12), McIlroy (-) -5: Kim (13), Harrington (3), Dinwiddie (-), Smith (-)
Padraig Harrington birdies the 2nd. Photo: Richard Sellers/Pennsylvania
Updated at 10.43 BST
Farewell to St Andrews for Mark Calcavecchia. The 1989 champion made his way to 18th last time out after being granted a special exemption to play this year. It almost turns into a special opportunity to land face forward on Swilcan Bridge, but he almost stays upright after a short trip and looks a little emotional as he waves to the galleries.
Padraig Harrington makes a move. The two-time Open champion won the US Senior Open last week and was very upbeat when asked last week if he could win another Claret Jug. He said:
100% Phil did it. Tom Watson proved it’s possible and there’s an even better chance of links at St Andrews too. I haven’t had a barrier in 50 years. Going down the stretch in a major, everyone else will feel the same way I do.
Updated at 10.36 BST
Yorkshire amateur Sam Bairstow is one down from the week to the 14th. He overcame defeat in the final of the Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham last month to go through final qualifying at St Anne’s Links. He is a left-hander who impresses England Golf staff with his all-round qualities, including poise and competitive instincts, rather than any particular strength. It is believed to be unrelated to Johnny.
Adam Scott is going well this morning. He has been in Fife since the start of last week, enjoying courses such as Kingsbarns and Crail in addition to the Old Course. His father was reporting that he was in great shape, which made his son’s decision to change gear on Sunday a little odd. But maybe Scott knew something? Yesterday he was three over going into the 8th, but now he is two under for the tournament as he heads into the 9th.
Tiger on first update: Approach missed the burn, long birdie putt missed the hole, longer-than-it-would-like-to-be par hit the bottom of the cup. ugh
Tiger Woods starts on the 1st. Photo: Paul Childs/Reuters
Updated at 10.14 BST
I’m going to take up Dave’s early stat baton and offer you this year’s PGA Tour 3-Over 25-Foot Total Rankings. A niche category, no doubt, but avoiding such mistakes is key to the Old Course. This is also a skewed ranking – higher is bad. Here are the top (i.e. bottom) five and their first round scores: Keith Mitchell 76, KH Lee 69, Sebastian Munoz 73, Luke List 76, Tom Hodge 74. And the bottom (i.e. best) five: Tyrrell Hatton 70, Lucas Herbert 70 , Webb Simpson 71, Danny Willett 69, Cameron Smith 67. Quietly convincing perhaps?
Thanks, Dave. For the first time this week the auld gray toun lives up to its name. At least in the sky above. Tiger’s first hole yesterday set the tone for the day so fingers crossed for the next 10 minutes – a good start and then ride the wave. That is the hope.
As Tiger is about to kick off, I’ll be passing the baton to Matt – live from St Andrews!
Only a tie for Scotty Scheffler at 5 so he remains at -3. But a move from Si Woo Kim, who adds to his birdie at 1 with a second for the day on 10, and the South Korean reaches the dizzying heights of fourth place.
A little further down and Paul Casey revs up with birdies at 2, 5 and 6 to jump 28 places to -4 and move into a tie for seventh.
Still no spark from Scotty Scheffler. Since that tee shot took him back to -3, he has made three pars, although the Masters champion will be looking for a first red of the day on the par-5 fifth. Scheffler just chipped one down the fairway to make it even more likely.
Marcus Armitage adds a tie on 10 to remain in sixth place. The Huddersfield professional has been nicknamed ‘The Bullet’, but for less glamorous reasons than you might think. This name was due to him ordering a golf glove from America that was to have “The Bulldog” written on it. Something got lost in translation and his glove arrived with “The Bullet” embroidered on it instead. Still, all of this contributes to its cult status.
Updated at 09.43 BST
Unlike Paul McGinley, Nick Faldo believes that today’s pins are “tucked a yard closer” than yesterday.
I just ran the numbers and today the field is 15-up total. Then it’s not so easy!
It would be nice to find a lot of player stats from yesterday, but there are some smart people recording them.
Datagolf has all the R1 Strokes received numbers, so what were the strengths (or weaknesses) of Rory McIlroy’s game in his 6-under 66 yesterday?
Here’s how he ranks [in a field of 156] in the various statistical categories:
Off The Tee: 7thApproach: 65thAround The Green: 29thTee To Green: 8thPutting: 6th
Strong in most areas, but perhaps those approaching numbers are a slight concern. Rory might need to tighten up his iron game a bit.
Updated at 09.31 BST
England’s Marcus Armitage continues to move up the leaderboard and a birdie on 9 moves him to 3-under 33. Now -4, he is in sixth place, up 29 places on the day. Is he 2022…
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