Tiger is happy to be back at the big tournament
CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND — A delighted Tiger Woods was back on beloved ancient ground Sunday for the first time since 2015.
A bit past 3:45 p.m. local time, Woods stepped to the first tee at venerable Carnoustie to begin preparation for the 147th edition of The Open Championship golf tournament. It will be the first time in three years he’ll compete for the Claret Jug, the coveted silver trophy he’s won three times prior.
“Coming here to Carnoustie, it is special,” said Woods, a winner of the Open in 2000 and 2005 at St. Andrews and in 2006 at Hoylake. From his initial experience with links golf — he tied for 48th as an amateur in the 1995 Scottish Open at Carnoustie — Woods has loved using the olden ground to temper high winds and the imagination and creativity that comes into play.
“From my first time coming here as an amateur to being back now, it’s just amazing how this course doesn’t change,” said Woods, who tied for seventh in the 1999 Open at Carnoustie and in a tie for 12th here in the 2007 Open. “It is right in front of you. It is hard. It’s probably the most difficult one we play in the whole rotation.
“Right now, the fairways are faster than the greens. I am sure they will probably speed the greens up a touch, but I’m sure this will be one of those weeks where the fairways are a little quicker than the greens.”
That put a smile on his face. . Little rain has dropped on this area for the past two months and a heat wave for these parts has turned the course brown and kept the rough wispy. That poses challenges for one and all, especially with expected strong winds coming in off the North Sea. During his hybrid practice round, where he played holes 1-4 and 15-18, Woods and caddie Joe LaCava spent extra time trying to determine how much roll the concretelike fairways will yield.
“I have a few more days to work on a few things and get the feel for playing this kind of golf again,” Woods said. “Probably the hardest thing when we come over here is the turf and how tight it is, how hard it can be, and playing the ball on the ground is different. It’s a feel thing.
“That’s the neat thing about coming to links courses, we play it as it is. It’s not tricked up ... It has been a while and I’ve missed it.”