Golf: Woods Banishes K Club Blues With Record

As hangovers go, this one lasted about as long as a medley of Andrew Ridgeley's greatest hits. Tiger Woods, as everyone suspected he would, yesterday rebounded from his Ryder Cup disappointment with the elasticity of a Powerball, shooting an eight-under par 63 on the first day of the American Express Championship.

The world No1, who has won this event four times, takes a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington and Ian Poulter into today's second round at this course near Watford. More importantly, he carved out a psychological advantage on a course that one of his rivals suggested might have been designed with his game in mind.

"They should just call this place Tiger Woods. It's his kind of place," said Woods' Ryder Cup colleague Stewart Cink, who ended the day on six-under par, two shots behind. As for the rest of the field's prospects over the next three days, he was not exactly gung-ho: "It is not demoralising until you see him beating everybody by 10 shots with a round to play."

There is every chance of that happening, as anyone privileged enough to see Woods yesterday dismantle a tight 7,125-yard course might be inclined to argue. Paired with Darren Clarke, the American played with a freedom that was absent from his game at the K Club, especially on front nine, which he covered in just 29 shots - six birdies and three pars. If the facts sound impressive, they hardly capture the brilliance of his golf, which was at times so easy he might have been playing his shots from an Eames lounge chair.

The back nine at The Grove is a little more difficult, especially when you make a bogey from the middle of the fairway, as he did on the 17th hole. But even then he followed carelessness with brilliance, hitting a 270-yard three-wood to 15 feet on the last and rolling in the eagle putt. "Did I?" Woods smiled when informed he had broken the Grove's course record.

He was not as cheerful when the subject of last weekend's events at the K Club came up, but nor was he about to admit culpability for the American defeat. "I'm only responsible for five points, and I won three of them," he said.

Of the 11 European Ryder Cup players in the field, only Paul Casey and Colin Montgomerie failed to break par, while Luke Donald, Henrik Stenson and Darren Clarke all finished on three under par. David Howell was on five under, three adrift of Woods and two behind Harrington, whose 64 suggested he had suffered few ill effects after his efforts in Ireland.