By CHRIS RATTUE
Tiger Woods turned into a political animal at the Paraparaumu Beach links as he struggled to match the hot weather.
After Woods was seen to labour on the greens, he pronounced himself a conservative. Which is probably bad news for the 143 other swinging hopers in the New Zealand Open.
Woods' first competitive round in this country had a scratchy start on the 408m par four 10th hole as he pulled a short birdie putt.
Playing alongside defending champion David Smail, who carded a two-over 73, and the 1995 champion Peter O'Malley who, like Woods, finished at one under, the world's best player could not get his putts to drop.
O'Malley, until the final hole, when he double bogeyed after splashing into a creek, was the star in a trio who had an entourage of more than 50, including a television crew, media, police, security and officials, trailing them up the fairways.
The tournament organisers wanted a seasoned professional to cope with the trappings that go with Woods.
The 36-year-old O'Malley from Sydney, who was 17th on the last European Order of Merit, certainly played his part and positioned himself for a title hunt.
Woods, who was even or one under throughout the round, said: "I should have shot lower, but it was also a day when you didn't want to shoot your way out of the tournament.
"It's a course where you can run up a big score. I played conservative all day and didn't try to do a whole lot."
Woods' worst moment came on his eighth hole, the course 17th, when he bogeyed after missing a putt of less than one metre.
On a good putting day, Woods would have nailed an eagle putt on his third hole, a par five, which has been lengthened to 498m.
But he did collect birdies on all three par-fives, which is par for the course in Tiger terms. And while missing a number of below par opportunities, Woods' powers of recovery were exemplified by a marvellous uphill chip when he had little green to work with on his final par-three hole.
Smail had almost become an afterthought as the thousands who followed Woods waited for his miracles, while O'Malley set the pace.
The champion, Smail was hardly confident before the tournament, and is annoyed that negative thoughts crept into his preparation.
The pressure and attention of defending have affected him, but since his last tournament was five weeks ago in Japan, it is probably rust that is corroding his game.
He played nine holes a day in the lead-up, but there is nothing to match true competition, and Smail felt as if he was still on the practice fairway for much of today's round.
"I should have been up for it with Tiger there you'd think," Smail said.
At least he was not totally forgotten in Tiger country.
A backyard grandstand next to the course's seventh hole kept room for a "Smail's Pace" sign, while welcoming "Tiger and Cambo" and remembering "Turns and Sir Bob" as New Zealand golf legends.
O'Malley believes the course should have been toughened through cutting the rough around the greens, thus allowing the contours to run errant shots away.
Apart from that, he had nothing but praise for the tournament.
"I enjoyed it. The galleries were good and there wasn't a lot of noise."
The Kiwi golfer is chasing the LPGA Tour season title and a huge payday.