Richie Coughlan didn't have to wait long to rediscover the tough life of a touring professional on his return to the US Tour in the first round of the Tucson Open yesterday.

The 26-year-old from Birr suffered a triple-bogey seven at his second hole on the Gallery course on his way to a disastrous opening round of six-over-par 78 which leaves him with little chance of making the midway cut.

Coughlan's troubles came very early on. At the 422 yards second, a dog-leg left with an approach to a narrow green and a natural wash to the left, Coughlan incurred his triple-bogey and then followed up with a bogey to be four over after just three holes.

Although he fought back with birdies at the sixth, eighth and 11th - as well as suffering another bogey at the seventh - any chance of salvaging something from the round was ruined by a poor finish which saw him incur further bogeys at the 14th and 15th and then a double bogey six at the last hole.

Meanwhile, most of the interest in Tiger Woods in Hawaii yesterday had to do with his new hairstyle. Woods dyed his hair blond over the holidays and made newspapers around the world when he displayed it from the sidelines of American football's Orange Bowl. He has since shaved his head, leaving a five o'clock shadow on his scalp.

In his press conference before the Mercedes Championships, Woods was talking casually about his game, how he was hitting the ball, how important it would be to hit it straight . . . when there was a long rat-a-tat of cameras clicking. All he did was remove his hat for a split second.

One television reporter asked Woods to remove his hat again. He smiled and refused.