By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
Published July 15, 2005
BIRDIES
Despite finding three bunkers - he wasn't in any throughout the 2000 tournament - Tiger Woods had eight birdies in a round of 66.
Showing no lingering effects from his final-round meltdown at Pinehurst last month, Retief Goosen put himself in good position with 68.
Australia's Mark Hensby has a tie for fifth at the Masters and a tie for third at the U.S. Open. He was in second here with 67.
BOGEYS
On a relatively benign day, Jack Nicklaus was unable to do better than 75, meaning today could be his final major-championship round.
Ernie Els shot a disappointing 74 with no birdies on the back nine and was eight shots behind Woods.
A double-bogey 7 on the par-5 14th doomed Phil Mickelson to 74, making for a tough task to catch Woods.
QUOTABLE
"To see him 7 under through 12 I was like, "Here we go.' I'm always pulling for Tiger. If I don't win I'd like to see him win." - Chris Riley, who shot 68, on watching the leaderboard and Tiger Woods' opening 66
NOTABLE
BBC ALL DAY: Golf fans in Britain are spoiled when it comes to watching the Open Championship on television. Remember when it was a big deal in the United States when the Masters went to a commercial-free telecast in 2003-04? That is always the case here. And the golf is on all day. The British Broadcasting Company, better known as the BBC, began its telecast from the Old Course at 9 a.m. Thursday - and continued until 8 p.m., without commercials. The BBC, which is publicly owned, is celebrating its 50th anniversary of televising the tournament, dating to the 1955 Open at St. Andrews.
TIGER'S NEW COMMERCIAL: A new Nike ad featuring Tiger Woods was to debut this week with vintage footage of Woods as a 5-year-old hitting an orange golf ball with wooden clubs. It shows him doing a little dance when dropping a putt. What really makes the commercial, however, is the digital trickery that combines the old pictures with footage of the Old Course from 2000, when Woods won the Open Championship. One scene has the child Tiger carrying his bag down the 18th hole as fans run behind him.
STAT OF THE DAY
Zack Johnson was at par heading to the Road Hole, the par-4 17th, and took 9 to finish with 77.
HOLE OF THE DAY
What the 18th lacks in bite, it makes up for in drama. There are all kinds of possibilities at the home hole, with its huge fairway and green, fronted by the "Valley of Sin," a large bog. It played as the easiest hole of the first round and forced just one bogey. But there were 65 birdies and two eagles at the hole that, given the right conditions, can easily be driven.
