by Anton Johan
Tiger Woods has removed the wayward club that has cost him so dear - we're talking about his putter here, so get your minds out of the gutter - and the replacement blade did the trick in the first round as the adulterer's adulterer made hay in relatively easy conditions to post a 67. He is still 4 shots adrift of Northern Ireland's young sensation Rory McIlroy who fired a sensational 63 to grab the early lead.
In fact, McIlroy, who has had a lot of success in Europe and is destined to land his fair share of majors, is now on top of the British Open betting boards to win this tournament. He is currently trading at odds of 9/2. Woods, who attracted a ton of money when his odds to win ballooned to 9/1 is now available at 5/1.
These two players dominate the betting for the overall winner of the 2010 Claret Jug. Lee Westwood is the only other player quoted in single figures at 9/1 and famous names such as Els and Mickelson are at huge odds and will return a small fortune with bookies should they somehow manage to win from here.
John Daly, who used to be the most dysfunctional man in golf, but who set the bar fairly low with chronic alcohol abuse, an addiction to gambling and a haircut that was declared a crime against humanity by Amnesty International, is also in the running (not literally of course, since he is obese) after shooting -6. Perhaps Daly and Woods will celebrate tonight although they tend to mix in different circles.
Woods might invite two porn stars over to his penthouse suite and film the night, while Daly would have to rent the video and watch it in his trailer.
South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen managed to card a brilliant score of
-7 to be second after the first round, but it is early days still and all the other golfers as well as most punters will be keeping at least one eye on Tiger Woods.
