The Open 2018: Tiger Woods at his most mean, moody and magnificent is still best story golf possesses
Despite American's F-word video nasty and footage of him snubbing young fans, galleries were still swollen for him here on Tayside
THE evening rush-hour commuters on the train to Dundee were given a tantalising glimpse of Tiger Woods’ old genius.
Woods seemed to be announcing his return to serious contention for the Claret Jug by sinking a 35ft left-to-right birdie putt on Carnoustie’s 11th green.
He did not even flinch when the rattler on its way down the coast from Aberdeen whistled past, granting a few passengers the chance to see him punch the air.
The travelling circus which accompanies Woods was back at The Open for the first time since 2015.
Their pied piper has not won a Major in ten years, nor any kind of tournament in five, yet the game of golf boasts no one with anywhere near his pulling power.
And suddenly here he was, two under par heading down the final stretch with just South African nobodies and little-known fellow Americans ahead of him.
It felt like a treat as rare as this long hot Scottish summer.
Was Woods really back to his super-human best, whistling a redemption song down Carnoustie’s fairways after four painful bouts of back surgery?
Then, suddenly, those all-too-familiar signs of mortal failings arrived.
Like the bleary-eyed police mug-shot or the weird shame-faced apology after his exposure as a serial diddler, Woods’ opening round fell from grace.
After dropping shots at the 13th and 15th — the first with a dozy three-putt — and squandering a birdie chance by finding a greenside bunker at the par-five 14th, Woods had to settle for a level-par 71.
Still, he is just five shots off the lead and there are no former Major champions with a significant advantage over him, just Rory McIlroy and Danny Willett two in front.
The American’s recent charm offensive had been damaged by a couple of social media landmines.
Then he gave young schoolboy autograph hunters the brush-off during Wednesday’s practice round.
Yet the galleries were still swollen for him here on Tayside. This is a living legend of world sport, ranking alongside not just Jack Nicklaus but Bradman, Federer, Pele and Ali.
When Woods narrowly failed to sink a putt from off the green at the fifth, England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to stop posing for selfies to watch the 42-year-old master give his driver a rare outing down Hogan’s Alley at the sixth.
A World Cup semi-finalist one week, an awe-struck fan the next, Woods can do this to people. He was two under at the turn and it could have been better still. His putter was not quite red-hot but he was shaping up like a true contender.
As the years advance, Woods has stated The Open represents his best chance of adding to his 14 Majors.
Links golf favours craft and imagination and Woods still has plenty of both, no matter how dodgy his back is.
If it had not been for the tape he was wearing on his neck and the slight middle-aged paunch he has developed, we could have been witnessing Woods in his pomp over the front nine.
There was a time when he was so dominant they were talking of ‘Tiger-proofing’ courses to thwart him.
In the end, it was not a case of golf getting bored with Woods’ dominance but of the man himself getting bored with winning.
Then, after a year of resurgence in 2013, his back caused him so much pain he was struggling to imagine even teeing off at an Open again. But there have been signs of an Indian summer in Woods’ career, with three near misses on the PGA Tour since his comeback in January.
And on yesterday’s front nine there were more clues, a dead-eyed birdie putt on the first and an approach nailed on the fourth.
The golfing world is willing him on. They know he’s never been your typical kind of hero.
Woods at his most mean, moody and magnificent is still the best story this sport possesses.