The Open 2010: Wood unhappy while Canter struggles

The Open Championship, St Andrews, 15-18 July
Coverage: Live on BBC TV, Red Button, BBC Sport website, with updates on BBC Radio 5 live Full coverage details

Wood lines up a putt on the sixth green at at St Andrews

By Ged Scott
BBC Sport at St Andrews

Bristol's Chris Wood made a tidy start to his third Open Championship by opening up with a two-under 70.

But the young West Countryman, who has enjoyed top five finishes in both his previous Opens, admitted that he is a long way short of top form.

"It wasn't the best," said Wood. "I never really hit the ball well and to be honest, I wasn't expecting to."

Even so, Wood's efforts still surpassed those of Bath amateur Laurie Canter, who shot a disappointing 81.

The English amateur international, who also played junior tennis to national standard, was an impressive winner in Final Qualifying, shooting rounds of 69 and 67 to win by a shot at Fairmont. But the 20-year-old found it a different story when the real action got going.

Canter began badly with a bogey five at the first, before going to the turn in 41 thanks to running up doubles at the fifth and the short eighth.

He made an even worse start to the back nine badly with a double bogey six at the 10th. Although he then put together six pars in a row, he dropped two more shots at the Road Hole before departing for the evening on nine over, in joint last place, and declining to comment on his round.

By contrast, Canter's fellow West Countryman Wood topped and tailed his round well.

He started and finished with birdies at the first and the last, picking up further shots at 5, 7 and 12.

Wood immediately gave back his first hole birdie by dropping a shot at the second. He then let a couple more slip away at 15 and 17 before the grandstand finish that was not enough to prevent him feeling disappointed.

"I'm off to the range," Wood told BBC Sport.

"My short game was good and I'm not putting badly but I'm putting the ball in some tricky places off the tee. I'm not hitting the hall well enough to make birdie putts.

"You're not going to make many birdies if you're hitting it to 50 feet. I certainly wasn't expecting to go out there and rip the course up. But it's not far away.

"The weather can turn overnight. Rory's gone out and shot nine under, but nine under might yet win the tournament. That's what The Open is like. I've just got to hang in there and wait for my chances."

Bristol's Chris Wood made a tidy start to his third Open Championship by opening up with a two-under 70.

But the 22-year-old, who has enjoyed top-five finishes in both his previous Opens, admitted that he is a long way short of top form.

"It wasn't the best," Wood told BBC Sport. "I never really hit the ball well and I wasn't expecting to."

Wood's efforts still surpassed that of Bath amateur Laurie Canter, who shot a nine-over 81.

The English amateur international, who also played junior tennis to national standard, was an impressive winner in final qualifying, shooting rounds of 69 and 67 to win by a shot at Fairmont

But the 20-year-old found it a different story when the real action got going.

Canter began badly with a bogey five at the first before going to the turn in 41 thanks to doubles at the fifth and the short eighth.

He then started the back nine badly with a double bogey six at the 10th. And, although he then put together six pars in a row, he ran up another double at the Road Hole before departing for the evening on nine over, in joint-last place, having declined to comment on his round.

Canter's nine-over par 81 left him in joint last place

By contrast, Canter's fellow West Countryman Wood topped and tailed his round well.

He birdied the first and the last, picking up further shots at the fifth, seventh and twelfth.

Wood immediately gave back his first-hole birdie by dropping a shot at the second. And he then let a couple more slip away at 15 and 17 before that grandstand finish. But that was not enough to gloss over a round that left him feeling disappointed.

"My short game was good and I'm not putting badly but I'm putting the ball in some tricky places off the tee," said Wood.

"I'm not hitting the hall well enough to make birdie putts.

"You're not going to make many birdies if you're hitting it to 50 feet.

"I certainly wasn't expecting to go out there and rip the course up. But it's not far away.

"And the weather can turn overnight. Rory's [McIlroy] gone out and shot nine under, but nine under might yet win the tournament. That's what The Open is like. I've just got to hang in there and wait for my chances."