After sitting out last month’s U.S. Open to rest his ailing, surgically repaired lower right leg, Tiger Woods is back at a major championship, this time the British Open.
But after a calamitous start to his first round, he’s unlikely to add a fourth British Open title to his collection.
He began his first round on Thursday with a double bogey after hitting his second shot into the Swilcan Burn, the course’s famous stream, and then missing a short bogey putt.
Through 10 holes, he is 5 over par, finally steadying himself with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 9 and 10 before a bogey at No. 11.
This is the 30th edition of the British Open played at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, where Woods won in 2000 and 2005.
He has stressed the importance of making this appearance, noting that he may not be able to make it back when the tournament next returns to St. Andrews.
Follow along for live updates on Woods’s first round and all the other happenings at St. Andrews.
The conventional wisdom when it comes to the 112 bunkers at the Old Course is this: do not try to be a hero. Punch out, take what amounts to a penalty stroke and move on with your day.
Si Woo Kim does not listen to conventional wisdom.
At the 17th hole Thursday, Kim sent his second shot into the diabolical greenside bunker, and his third shot did not make it out, bumping up against the wall and coming back down into the hazard.