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British Open: Tiger Woods wearing tape after waking with stiff neck

By Alex Butler
Tiger Woods tees off on the par-3 third hole during final round play of the Quicken Loans National golf tournament on July 1 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac, MD. Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI
Tiger Woods tees off on the par-3 third hole during final round play of the Quicken Loans National golf tournament on July 1 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Potomac, MD. Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI | License Photo

July 19 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods showed up at the first round of the Open Championship wearing tape on his neck after waking up with stiffness on Thursday in Scotland.

Woods tees off at 10:43 a.m. with Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Knox. The 42-year-old has won the tournament three times. His last victory came in 2006.

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"The story is really a commonality," Golf Channel analyst Roger Maltbie said during Thursday's broadcast. "It has happened to us all. He slept funny last night on the pillow and woke up with a stiff neck. He got early treatment before he came out to the range and has put on KT tape in an effort to relax that neck."

Woods' camp told USA Today the golfer quickly felt better after putting the tape on and said the injuring wasn't major.

Tiger Woods wears KT tape on his neck before teeing off at the Open Championship on Thursday in Carnoustie, Scotland. Photo courtesy of the Golf Channel

"I'm really looking forward to it," Woods told reporters Wednesday. "This is our oldest championship. To come back to such a historic site brings back so many great memories."

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Carnoustie Golf Links is hosting this year's Open Championship. It's the eighth time the golf course in Carnoustie, Scotland, has hosted the competition.

Woods is ranked No. 71 in the world. American Kevin Kisner was the early clubhouse leader, carding a 5-under-par 66 in the first round. No. 3 Justin Rose and No. 6 Jordan Spieth sent in first round scores of 1-over-par 72s. No. 20 Phil Mickelson was 2-over-par.

No. 1 Dustin Johnson is the betting favorite to win the Open Championship.

2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed was 3-over-par through 16 holes while 2018 U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka teed off at 10 a.m.

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