Woods Ties Amateur Record With 281, Finishes Ahead of Some Major Names

Tiger Woods finished his second British Open with a one-under-par 70 and tied a tournament record for amateurs with a 72-hole total of 281.

Woods had rounds of 75-66-70-70 and ended up three under par. His total matched the record of 281 set by Iain Pyman of England in 1993 at Royal St. George’s.

“It’s very satisfying to finally come up with something,” Woods said. “It’s kind of neat to see the improvement in my game.”

Woods was low amateur; the other three in the field missed the cut.

As low amateur, Woods, 20, won a silver medal.

“I was looking for the claret jug,” Woods joked.

Woods finished ahead of Nick Price, Ben Crenshaw, Craig Stadler, Tom Kite, John Daly and Scott Simpson. Each has won a major.

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Right after he shot a 66 in Friday’s second round to put himself one shot from the lead, Jack Nicklaus said he “might shoot 150” the next two rounds.

Right you are, Jack.

Nicklaus started his 35th consecutive British Open with rounds of 69-66 and closed it out in exactly 150 shots--77-73--to finished at one-over 285.

“I played two decent rounds and then faded away to oblivion,” Nicklaus, 56, said.

The three-time British Open champion said he probably isn’t going to be back soon.

“This may be my last British Open for a while,” Nicklaus said. “I think I will be back for St. Andrews in 2000, but I don’t know what I’ll do about the ones in between.”

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It wasn’t an especially lucky week for Silvio Grappasonni.

The 33-year-old Italian missed a chance to play in the British Open when he lost in a playoff for a top-10 finish at the Scottish Open, then lost in another playoff in qualifying.

But when Duffy Waldorf pulled out, Grappasonni finally got in to his first British Open. He missed the cut by one shot.

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When Tom Lehman and Nick Faldo walked up the 18th fairway, a male streaker interrupted the proceedings briefly. There also was a female streaker at Wimbledon.

“I liked the one at Wimbledon a lot better, I don’t know about you,” Lehman said.