"Hey Adam...Put a muzzle on that sheep of yours!"

Lost in John Daly's career-fatal meltdown---yes, lost--was Tiger's impressive opening 68 at The Lakes.

John Huggan tells us about the scene at the first tee where Stevie Williams fan club turned out.

"Hey Adam," he yelled from his vantage point maybe 70 yards ahead and to the right of the first tee at The Lakes, venue for this star-studded Australian Open. "Put a muzzle on that sheep of yours!"

As for Tiger's round, it should be noted the wind was very stiff in the afternoon. Huggan again:

Still, it would be wrong to be too harsh in assessing what turned out to be a bogey-free, four-under-par 68. Certainly, Woods was making some justifiably positive noises when all was over.

"I was pleased with the way I hit the ball," he said. "That's how I've been playing at home so it was nice to take it to the course at last. I stayed patient in the (increasingly blustery) conditions too. It would have been easy to get frustrated on the front nine. I only hit one really bad shot, the tee-shot at the ninth but made a great up-and-down to save par. That was important, as I knew there were three par-5s and a drivable par-4 coming home. It wasn't easy out there."

Not easy, but better. Definitely better.