Tiger Woods carded eight birdies in a sparkling 64 to break the course-record at Limerick GC yesterday by three strokes. But local amateurs, Timmy Rice and Juan Fitzgerald will, no doubt, dine out for some years to come on the breath-taking quality of the player it took to lower their mark.
The course was in wonderful condition, especially the greens.
With each team costing £40,000, Dr Michael Smurfit wondered if one of the four teams he entered would come up with a leading player in the pre-tournament draw. As it happened, they did. Woods was accompanied yesterday by Dr Smurfit's brother Alan, his son Michael Jnr and Pat Moore.
In the event, the three amateurs were content to watch admiringly the exploits of the young master insofar as Woods was responsible for the team score of 44 points, all on his own card.
It was heady stuff in that it contained no bogeys with some wonderful play from tee to green, especially with his short irons. Setting off on the 11th in a shotgun start, he got up and down to save par at his opening hole and then proceeded to drive the green at the 311-yard 13th for a two-putt birdie.
He then holed a 25-footer for a birdie at the 15th and went on to drive close to the green at the 333-yard first, where he chipped to four feet: another birdie. Then came a two-putt birdie at the long second, followed by another birdie at the fourth where he played probably the best shot of the round.
It came into the teeth of a testing wind when he hit a beautifully punched, five iron second shot of 134 yards which rose no more than 10 feet off the ground before coming to rest 18 inches from the flag. He then had a two at the eighth, which was to be the first of three successive birdies which completed the round in a style befitting the world's best.
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