Q. Overall thoughts?
TIGER WOODS: Well, probably highest score as I could have shot. 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.
Q. Obviously you can’t dismiss the physical issues you faced, but was today less about that than at any time in the golf you’ve played?
TIGER WOODS: My other two events I played this year? Yeah, it was a lot easier today, physically, than it has been the other two events, for sure.
Q. How fast — have you ever seen anything quite like this, this firm?
TIGER WOODS: We played Liverpool like that. But it was just different. Liverpool doesn’t have the amount of slopes that St Andrews has. The fairways are flatter. So the ball obviously, you have more control on the ground. Here you really don’t have as much control. They were quick.
The greens were very firm but slow. And it’s an interesting combo. And we weren’t exactly speed demons out there either. The whole round took a long time, and we were getting waved up. And it was a long, slow day.
Q. So unlucky to have that first shot going into a divot. Do you feel good luck and bad luck balance over time?
TIGER WOODS: Over the course of a career or a round? (Laughter). Yes. Yeah, over the course of a career, yes. But in a round sometimes it just goes that way. It just goes one way and it never seems to come back. No matter how hard you fight. And then I compounded problems, as I said, with my bad speed on the greens. I hit the ball in the correct spots a couple times, leave myself some good lag putts, the correct angles and I messed those up.
And so when I had opportunities to make a few putts, I missed them, and as I said I compounded with some bad lag putts. And just never got anything going.
Q. What was the most disappointing aspect of today?
TIGER WOODS: I think just the total score. 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.
Q. Despite the way you played, were you heartened by the crowd, the way they reacted?
TIGER WOODS: They were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. So supportive. Obviously they’re not going to be quite as loud because you don’t hear them in the middle of the golf course. They’re only on the perimeter. But just the support coming off each tee and each green, when they were in proximity. Most of the tees they were, yes; but some of the greens they weren’t. But when the greens that they were, they were very respectful and very appreciative of all of us out there today, which was great.
Q. How meaningful was it to have your return here at St Andrews and play here again?
TIGER WOODS: Very, very meaningful. All things considered, where I’ve been, I was hoping I could play this event this year. Looking at it at the beginning of the year, end of last year when I was rehabbing, trying to see if I could do it, but somehow I was able to play two of the major championships in between then and now, which was great. But this was always on the calendar to hopefully be well enough to play it. And I am. And just didn’t do a very good job of it.
Q. When you were on the first hole, this moment came, you were here, you were able to overcome. Was there a moment that you took a step back and said to yourself, I did this, I’ve accomplished this?
TIGER WOODS: No. No, I looked at that bush down there. I said hit that 3-iron right at that bush, hit a flat draw. And I did. I hit a perfect shot. I get down there I’m right in the middle of a fresh divot. Well, either just, one, don’t hit it flat and don’t blade it. I didn’t do either. But I still hit it in the burn.
Q. Tomorrow, are you going to bounce back?
TIGER WOODS: Looks like I’m going to have to shoot 66 tomorrow to have a chance. 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.
Q. Did you have the same putting issues in practise, or did the greens maybe change?
TIGER WOODS: I still have the same thing. I still struggle with hitting the putts hard enough. Just because they look faster, and especially when you consider actually the fairways are faster than the greens, it’s just a different dynamic than we were accustomed to.
Pitch shots around the greens, you allow for more speed and then for them to slow up on the greens, which is the exact opposite of what we would normally play.
But I’ve played British Opens where they’ve been like that. And it’s up to me to make those adjustments and I didn’t do it.
