Woods feels right at home on Carnoustie’s links
CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND — Tiger Woods doesn’t feel as old at the oldest championship in golf.
Back at the British Open for the first time in three years, Woods broke from his tradition on Tuesday morning. Instead of being among the first on the tee for practice, he didn’t show up at Carnoustie until his news conference just before lunch. Then, he played nine holes with Masters champion Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau.
This was not a case of a 42-yearold needing his rest.
Entering the year having not played any major since the end of 2015 and the start of three back surgeries, Woods has been feeling better as 2018 has gone on. And there’s something about links golf that inspires him.
“It’s my favourite type of golf to play,” Woods said. “I love playing here, this type of links golf, or a style of links golf down on the Aussie sand belt ... because it is creative. We’re not going to get the most perfect bounces. And I think that’s the fun challenge of it.”
He made his links debut at Carnoustie in 1995 as an amateur at the Scottish Open, a week before his British Open debut at St. Andrews. He hasn’t contended on the back nine in the previous Opens at Carnoustie, in 1999 and 2007, though he wasn’t far from a playoff.
Might this be his best shot at winning another major?
“Not to be smart, but it is the next major I’m playing,” Woods said with a laugh.
But over time, he thinks it might be his best chance because of history. Woods recalls 53-yearold Greg Norman playing in the final group at Royal Birkdale in 2008, a major Woods missed because of knee surgery. The following year, Woods missed the cut for the first time at the British Open when 59-year-old Tom Watson was one putt away from winning at Turnberry.
“You don’t have to be long to play on a links-style golf course,” Woods said. “You get to places like Augusta National, where it’s just a big ballpark, and the golf course outgrows you, unfortunately. That’s just the way it goes. But a links-style golf course, you can roll the ball. Distance becomes a moot point.”
That said, distance is everything at Carnoustie this year, which Woods discovered when he arrived Sunday.
How far the ball travels in the warm, dry air is not the issue. It’s how far it travels once it gets on the baked turf.
Dustin Johnson discovered that when he arrived on Saturday and reached the 499-yard 18th hole, with a stiff breeze at his back and fairways running only slightly slower than they did on the weekend at Shinnecock Hills.
He hit driver into the burn. The next day, his drive was a few yards short of the burn.
“I hit some irons, and depending on the wind, I’ll probably hit anywhere from ... I’ve hit 3-wood, 3-iron and 4-iron off the tee,” Johnson said.
“I like all of them.”
Johnson figures he’ll hit driver on half of the holes.
U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka might hit as many as nine drivers.