Woods ends on high note

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — On a trying British Open day for Tiger Woods, he found the magic to put a little bit of a flourish on the end.

Woods flirted with a hole-in-one at St. Andrews’ par-4 18th hole, missing the eagle attempt but tapping in for birdie to complete a 1-over-par 73 that left him eight shots behind leader Louis Oosthuizen.

“Today was a day I could have easily shot myself out of the tournament,” said Woods, whose bogey/bogey start included a 65-minute delay for high winds. “But I put it back together again and pieced together a pretty good turnaround.”

Woods reached the 36-hole checkpoint in a tie for 15th – not so bad compared to the majority of wind-beaten golfers who played in the afternoon. Asked if this was one of his best rounds of the year considering conditions, he said, “Absolutely.”

Woods set out to follow up a 67 on Thursday – one shot off his best round of the year and good enough to tie for eighth at the first round’s completion. His only lower score thus far in 2010 was a 66 in the third round of last month’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

But nothing came easy. He got in just three strokes before play was halted by high winds that wouldn’t let golf balls hold still on the greens. When play resumed, his 8-foot par putt curled off to the right.

He left himself a 10-foot par save at No. 2, and that one curled off to the left – not a strong showing after debuting a new Nike putter Thursday that he said produced better results on slow greens.