APST. ANDREWS, Scotland - Tiger Woods was all over the leaderboard at the British Open.
Too bad this was on a Monday.
Locals roam the Old Course all the time on the most public of major championship properties, which King David I of Scotland granted to the people of St. Andrews way back in 1123. But some of them did more than walk their dogs in the late evening and early morning hours after Louis Oosthuizen won the British Open.
The letters and numbers on the scoreboard along the 13th hole were rearranged to show someone named Rob Rixon at 9 under. He was joined on the board with Tiger Woods, who was listed at 99 over.
Even more telling of the respect the world's No. 1 player gets these days was the large yellow-and-blue scoreboard atop the grandstand to the left of the 18th fairway. Most of the letters were still in place for the annual message, "Well played Louis." But instead of "See you at Sandwich in 2011" for the next Open, it read "Shaggy Woods."
Woods was expecting a warm reception at the home of golf, where he had won the claret jug the past two times, and there were no surprises. It's been that way for the last few months. Aside from the tentative applause when he first showed his face to fans on a golf course that Monday at Augusta National, he still gets the biggest gallery and loudest cheers.
Gone is the reverence — as a person and a player.
The biggest change might be the perception of Woods, and it goes beyond what anyone puts on a scoreboard.
Woods' record victory at St. Andrews a decade ago is legendary for the fact he did not play out of a single bunker in 72 holes when he won at 19-under par for an eight-stroke victory. It matched the largest margin in the Open since golf's oldest major championship went to 72 holes at the turn of last century.
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Oosthuizen smartly played it safe the rest of the way, even treating the 17th hole as a par 5. All he wanted was his name on the base of that beautiful jug, so finishing at 16-under 272 for a seven-shot win were just numbers.
As for that amazing feat of avoiding all those bunkers on the Old Course?
"Yes, I finally hit one at the back of the 14th," Oosthuizen said Monday in mock resignation. "It was the bunker behind the green, which was a good place for me to miss."
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Woods won an unprecedented three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles, and his father once considered that one of his top achievements. Now you can't help but wonder if Spieth can join Woods as the only multiple winners, or even win three in a row.
There's still a long way to go.
And it's easy to get caught up in the snapshot of Woods' career instead of looking at the big picture.
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