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Report From British Open

Aired July 18, 2002 - 14:54   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: At the British Open, he is not the leader, but he is on the leader board. And with Tiger Woods's record, that has to make an impression on the other 155 golfers.

Keeping close eye on all the swings from Scotland, Patrick Snell of CNN Sports.

Hi -- Patrick.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Thanks very much for joining us. Welcome to Scotland.

Yes, Tiger Woods has not quite had it all his own way today. There are actually people ahead of him in this tournament, but it's still very much early days.

Now, Tiger shot an opening round 70. That's one under par. And despite all the high profile attention that his score is obviously receiving, he is still within three shots of the lead.

Now, the leader the leader -- the leader at the moment -- the Californian Duffy Waldorf, he shot a 67. And he is on four under par.

But of course, all eyes on Tiger Woods, and he has admitted he didn't have the best of days on the green, his luck certainly deserting him. But he's the first to say that he believes he still very much in contention as far as this title is concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, ATHLETE: If I make those putts, then, obviously, there's your score. But anything under par today is going to be a good score, especially with the weather coming in the next couple of days. And it is going to be tough. And any time you can get off to a start like this on the par in major championship, you are going to be happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Three rounds still to go, Tiger Woods still very much in contention. But he's mentioned the weather, and that certainly could come into play here in Scotland. Of course, the rough here potentially treacherous at times, more than waist high. So that's certainly going to come into play over the next three rounds.

But Tiger Woods certainly not too disappointed after the opening round here in Scotland -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So Patrick, do reporters ever get a chance to play that course?

SNELL: In my dreams, I think, hopefully. I don't think I would justice do it justice, Kyra, to be honest. For me, it's just a pleasure reporting from this famous venue. I'm getting the occasional chance to actually go out on the course and see these great guys strike a ball. Truly impressive. I am totally in awe.

PHILLIPS: I bet you are. What about the course? How tough is it?

SNELL: For these guys, I think today they have had it pretty good, really. The conditions, the elements, have been very, very pleasant to play, and the famous winds here haven't got up. We're right on the coast here. And of course, if does get nasty over the next three days, we are going to see golfers suffering out there.

There is a lot of a lot of potential for disaster. The rough -- most golfers have been talking trying to keep it out of that rough. They're trying to maybe take an iron off the tee and reduce a little bit of a distance. Put the wood, leave in the bag, get an iron out, and try to keep it safe, try to keep it in play.

I think the next three days are going to be very, very interesting here because the forecast isn't for the best of weather -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: That's true.

All right, we hear a lot about Tiger Woods, but tell us a little bit more about Duffy. What can you tell us about him as a person and as a player?

SNELL: Larger than life. I think it's fair to say. He is very, very open, decent, honest person. And he is the first to come in and talk and communicate, not just about his love for the game, his love for competing. And I spoke to him after his round today, and he seemed to be quite uncertain, disbelieving, as to the what he wanted to do.

We wanted to do in interview -- we at CNN to actually do an interview with him. He spoke to us one on one. He is famous, really, for his color of his attire, shall we say: He loves the Hawaiian attitude, and that's very much reflected in his appearance today. He was wearing a cross between a white and a blue attire and a matching hat. He loves the Hawaiian effect. And he says that does certainly reflect his attitude and his joie de vivre -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You've got to love it.

All right, Patrick Snell there, at the British Open. Thanks, Patrick.

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