Notes from Thursday

Must have been a great round, Tiger.

Seconds after completing a first-round 74 at the British Open on Thursday, tournament favorite Tiger Woods got a reward he didn't expect.

As he was talking to playing partner Ian Woosnam, a woman dressed in a black bra and a G-string ran up to Woods and gave him a hug and a kiss.

"I looked up and there she was," Woods said. ``She ran over, gave me a hug and quick kiss and ran off."

Woods said he was startled, but never worried for his safety.

"When I looked at her, I could see that she didn't have anything in her hands because her hands were up," he said. "She didn't have a whole lot on, so I guess I assumed it was a pretty benign situation."

SCORERS THAI'D UP: With four 7s on his card to go with a two double-bogey 6s and six more bogeys, Thai golfer Prayad Marksaeng was keeping the scorers busy at the British Open.

He was out in a 13-over 49, and that posed a problem for the staff in the media tent. They didn't have a card with the number 49 on it, and the space for his halfway score was too small to place a 4 and a 9.

They decided to take a 43 and write over the 3 to make it look like a 9.

Marksaeng finished with a 20-over 91, the highest score of the first round.

ROUGH RIDE: Stung by David Duval's remarks that the long, thick rough at Carnoustie was the work of an "out of control" groundskeeper, British Open organizers said the weather was to blame.

Duval, critical of the course even before Thursday's first round, heard reports that the greenskeepers used fertilizer to make the rough grow heavier.

"I don't know what they were trying to accomplish," the American said.

Hugh Campbell, chairman of the championship committee, strongly denied Duval's suggestion.

"We categorically deny that is the case. The greenskeeper has given us everything we asked for. I don't what he (Duval) is referring to, and any problems we have had have been caused by the weather," Campbell said.

"We defined the rough in spring on the basis of an average growth, and because of the wet weather we got a whole season's growth and we could not cut it back quick enough. It just wasn't possible."

ANOTHER WATSON: Scott Watson, the Englishman who replaced Bill Glasson in the field after the American withdrew on the eve of the tournament, was tied at the top of the leader board after seven holes, while bigger names struggled at Carnoustie.

After parring the first six holes, he birdied the seventh, but a double-bogey at the ninth set him back. Watson had four more bogeys before birdies on the last two holes left him at 74, only three strokes off the lead.

Meanwhile, Fred Funk became the latest American to drop out of the field. After carding a 12-over 83, he pulled out with a shoulder injury.

Nine other Americans withdrew before the championship started, either through injury or lack of form -- Jack Nicklaus, John Daly, Tom Kite, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Steve Jones, Scott Hoch, Brad Faxon and Glasson.

AP