Woods-Ishikawa pairing led to media madness

Published Jul. 17, 2009 3:27 a.m. ET

foxsports

Went to watch a three-ball game in the opening round of the 138th Open Championships. What broke out was a three-ring circus.

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No surprise that Tiger Woods was involved; his presence always attracts a huge following. But for Royal & Ancient officials to throw Ryo Ishikawa into the pairing could be called risky or foolhardy or anything in between.

Lee Westwood, the third member of Game 15, probably had a term in mind, but being the proper Englishman, he chose not to make a big deal of things. He did not deny, however, that there were moments when he felt as if he were one of 37 clowns jammed into a Volkswagon for the carnival crowd.

"I expected it to be busy out there and there to be a fair bit of activity," Westwood said. "It gave me a nice chance to practice my Japanese."

Before we get to the side shows that were such a big part of the Woods, Westwood, and Ryo Ishikawa pairing, let us capsulize the golf. It was choppy (Woods hit just eight fairways and 12 greens to shoot 1-over 71), contrasting (Westwood started with three straight birdies, but double-bogeyed the 16th to shoot 68), and compelling (Ishikawa showed that he's a pretty poised 17-year-old by coming home in 33 to shoot 68).

And while nothing any of them did interrupted the real golf story of the day — 59-year-old Tom Watson's 65 — everything they did was watched by seemingly every set of eyes in Scotland.