Trish Johnson, a soccer fanatic, displayed her loyalties with an Arsenal badge attached to her shirt. But it was her fellow-professionals that she was gunning for after it took well over five hours to compile her first-round, four-under-par 68 in the Weetabix British Open.
After finishing three shots behind the leader, Karrie Webb, and in joint second place with Sweden's Lisellotte Neumann, the British player admitted it had been "absolute misery."
"The pace of play is hideous," she insisted. "Anyone who can't get round this course in under four hours needs shooting. But it's the same every week, and nothing is done about it. It must drive the spectators to boredom."
Her mood lightened when the conversation shifted to her haul of five birdies on a day of ideal scoring conditions. She opened with chip and putt birdies at the relatively straightforward par five first and second, and she also birdied the fifth, from 25 feet, and the ninth to be out in 32.
Her first shot slipped away with a bunkered tee shot at the short 16th, but she immediately got her own back by holing from 25 feet following a nine-iron second shot at the 400 yard 17th.
"I struggled a bit on the back nine when my concentration started to flag," she said. "But the greens are magnificent, and I'm quite surprised that there aren't more low scores."
The three biggest crowdpullers, Laura Davies, Alison Nicholas and Nancy Lopez, all finished on the wrong side of par. Davies had been delighted that, after seven fruitless years at Woburn, she had faced a new challenge. But, out in one-under 35, she failed to make a birdie on the tougher inward journey, and a 74 had the winner at Royal Birkdale 11 years ago observing: "Everything is great here - but it's the same British Open week for me."
Just under five weeks after they came head-to-head in the final round of the US Open, Nicholas and Lopez, the 40 year-old American Hall of Famer, were in the same group. The Briton won that duel in the sun, and she again came out on top.
But a 75 against a 77 left was hardly the same. Both were outshone by Webb, who was the third member of the group. A shock winner at Woburn two years ago, the 22-year-old Australian went on to win the US LPGA Order of Merit last year.
In doing so, she became the first rookie to win over $1 million. This season, she has risen to world number two, and banked over $600,000 in America, although she reckoned yesterday's 65 was her first really focused round of the year.
"I've not played so well since the Australian Masters last winter," she said after the flawless, seven-birdie round.
"I worked on my putting last night, concentrating on trying to find a rhythm, and it made all the difference."
She certainly had a great day on the greens, with five of the birdies coming from long range.
Neumann, the 1994 champion, reached the turn in an unspectacular level par. But a glorious run from the 11th of birdie, eagle - a five-wood second to 11 feet at the 466 yard 12th - birdie (chipped in) completely turned her round.
Dubliner Aideen Rogers and amateur Barbara Hackett from Cork left themselves struggling to make the halfway cut after opening rounds of 79. Rogers, out in the first match of the day, was only one over par when she turned in 37, but toiled when she turned for home. Wayward shots accounted for bogeys at the 10th, 11th and 13th, and she bogeyed the last three holes to come home in 42.
Hackett, who won the Smyth Salver when she was the leading amateur last year, followed the same pattern. Out in 38, she collected her solitary birdie of the day at the long 12th, dropped a shot at the short 13th, then ran up sixes at the 14th and 17th to come home in 41.
First round scores (Brit unless stated, Ire in bold. x denotes amateur, Par 72): 65 - K Webb (Aus). 68 - L Neumann (Swe), T Johnson. 69 - J Inkster (US), H Alfredsson (Swe), E Klein (US). 70 - L Lambert (Aus), F Muraguchi (Jap), R Jones (US), C Matthew, K Marshall, x S Cavalleri (Italy), T Barrett (US), A Alcott (US), C Schreyer (US), L Kane (Can). 71 - A Dibos (Per), C Johnson (US), B King (US), J Lidback (Peru), M Spencer-Devlin (US), A-C Jonasson (Swe), C Sorenstam (Swe), D Richard (US), B Whitehead (US), M Murray. 72 - S Maynor, I Shiotani (Jap), S Steinhauer (US), S Prosser, S Strudwick, L Brooky (Nzl), V Stensrud (Nor), B Mucha (US), A Sorenstam (Swe), C Dibnah (Aus), V Michaud (Fra), S Farron (Nzl). 73 - A Yamaoka (Jap), B Burton (US), K Tschetter (US), M Hjorth (Swe), L Maritz (SA), M Koch (Ger), S Waugh (Aus), G Graham (Can), L Fairclough, C Pierce, H Dobson, K Taylor, W Dicks. 74 - T Loveys, N Lowien (Aus), L Hackney, L Davies, T Green (US), M Estill (US), A Arruti (Spain), W Doolan (Aus), C Louw (SA), T Poulton, N Moult, D Barnard, M-L de Lorenzi (Fra), J Moodie, K Mourgue d'Algue (Fra), K Lunn (Aus), S Dallongeville (Fra), S Mendiburu (Fra). 75 - S Melin (Swe), S Redman (US), C Figg-Currier (US), M Lojdahl (Swe), J Morley, AM Knight (Aus), A Fruhwirth (US), x E Esterl (Ger), A Gottmo (Swe), K Parker-Gregory (US), A Nicholas, P Bradley (US), H Kobayashi (Jap), R Hetherington (Aus). 76 - A Read (US), N Fink (Aut), xA Rose, P Hurst (US), M Hirase (Jap), C Hj Koch (Swe), W-S Ko (Kor), H F Tseng (ROC), F Dassu (Italy), P Meunier Lebouc (Fra), S Gustafson (Swe). 77 - C Nilsmark (Swe), N Bowen (US), D Eggling (US), J Head, N Lopez (US), H Wadsworth, K Golden (US), D Booker (Aus), C Schmitt (Fra), K Pearce (Aus). 78 - E Knuth (Spain), K Harada (Jap), A Berg (Swe), M Sutton, P Sterner (Swe), L Tadiotto (Bel), J Leary (Aus), B Pestana (SA), D Andrews (US), S Croce (Italy), G Stewart, J Arnold (NZ), J Lee (Kor). 79 - N Murray, A Rogers, x B Hackett, A Benz (US), M Hageman (Hol), X Wunsch (Spain), K Poppmeier (Aut), x S Sanderson, C Duffy. 80 - C Hall, M Lunn (Aus), N Gole (Aus), P Wright. 81 - K Larsson (Swe), J Forbes, L Lindley (US), D Reid, K Orum (Den). 82 - L Navarro (Spain), M McKay, M McGeorge (US). 83 - L Percival. 84 - K Weiss (US). 85 - M Hedblom (Swe), F Pike (Aus). 86 - J Mills (Aus).
