But with the wind drying out the greens, he could generate little momentum and soon enough he was eight over par.The Tiger, it seemed, had survived the jungle – a salvation that was enhanced when he rocketed a putt across the last green and saw it bounce in and out of the hole, but not violently enough to prevent a comfortable par. “I smiled then,” said Woods, “because if it hadn’t hit the flag it would probably have gone out of bounds.”That would have brought him full circle on his day of trial, but if this was an escape it was one that brought gratitude rather than noticeable pleasure. Though Woods won the Western Open two weeks ago, he is plainly some way from the peak of his game. The smiles are fashioned rather than born and there is little of that familiar spring in his stride.It was pointed out to him that he hit a mere three fairways He was a little defensive “I hit some bad drives, yes, but I also hit some good ones These fairways are tough to hit. The important point is that I have kept myself in the tournament.” It was an accurate statement, but was it really the truth? The Tiger was certainly alive, but was he well – in the way we have come to expect at a major tournament? It is far too early to say.. Fredrik Jacobson would not have been an automatic selection to be the only player not to drop a shot during yesterday’s first round. Indeed, he might have only featured a couple places above John Daly at the bottom of the list.

“I didn’t expect that, especially as the wind picked up,” he admitted. “I got away without going in the fairway bunkers and scrambled around the greens very well.”Not that the 28-year-old was entirely unfancied for this event. A fifth-place finish at the US Open to go with two victories on the European Tour this season has more than hinted at his undoubted talent. It is just that when Jacobson has performed before it has always been in streaks; eight birdies here, the odd double bogey there.

“It is virtually impossible to stop the ball on some of the greens out there and you need to make a lot of ups and downs for par. I did very well on that bit,” he said.The mission now for Jacobson is, of course, to become not only the first Swede to win the Open but the first Scandinavian ever to win a major. Thomas Bjorn is also handily place on two over, but the Dane would have been mortified with that score after a two-shot penalty on the 17th helped him run up a quadruple bogey eight.Bjorn was then standing at two under par but hit a lob wedge for his third shot into a green side bunker on the penultimate hole. At the first attempt he left the ball in the trap and then proceeded to slam his club into the sand thus incurring his penalty.

He then splashed the ball out of the bunker before holing the putt for an eight Nick Faldo, playing alongside Bjorn, was dumbfounded. “Sure I’ve seen than happen before, but never in an Open,” he said.. The bizarre injury that caused Colin Montgomerie to withdraw after just seven holes of yet another doomed Open bid was merely the icing on the humble pie swallowed by the main home hopes here yesterday. But whereas Darren Clarke, Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey all experienced bad days at the office, at least they can return to work today to try to turn around the balance sheet. For Montgomerie, a Friday with his feet up will never seem so wasted.