Faldo says brutal Bethpage will get better of Woods.. and says Rory lacks patience to win
SIR NICK FALDO has claimed the beast of Bethpage Black will tame Tiger Woods.
And the six-time Major winner reckons Rory McIlroy lacks the patience and work ethic to win the 101st US PGA this week.
Afterdays of heavy rain and low temperatures on Long Island, the sun finally reappeared yesterday and the forecast is better for the re-scheduled second Major of the season.
But the damp conditions and juicy rough will make the 7,459-yard New York public course even longer – and penalise all but the straightest of hitters.
Faldo (right) knows the challenge of Bethpage Black as he was tied-fifth at the
2002 US Open here as a 44-year-old, while champ Woods (far right) was the only player under par.
After his Masters triumph last month, the 43-year-old American is the sentimental favourite to win his 16th Major title.
But Faldo said: “He is not going to win. No, no, no. Bethpage will beat Tiger this week. The beast will beat the Tiger.
“You have to be straight and narrow. You’ve just got to hit the fairways. It’s a brute. Will he win more Majors? He really needs to be fit in April ( for the US Masters) for the next five years. I can’t see how he can survive the rough here.”
Europe’s best-ever golfer instead named Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, and not McIlroy, as his picks this week.
“Rory has question marks against his game,” Faldo explained.
“With Rory there’s the swing – he will block a few or pull a few.
“We are just not sure if he can turn it on and stay at the level. If it is going to be a par-fest, has he got the patience for that?”
McIlroy (left) claimed his fourth and last Major at the 2014 US PGA – then staged in August – but has missed four cuts in his 16 Majors since.
The Northern Irishman showed his old form to win the Players Championship at Sawgrass in Florida in March but was never a contender at the Masters the following month after blocking his opening tee shot into the trees.
“He has gone nearly five years since his last Major win,” Faldo continued. “They live an unbelievable life but you really have to make golf your priority. You are going to have golf, your family, your wife. That is it.
“Be completely committed to golf for 20 years because you have got an awful long time after that to go off and do what you need to do.
“If I were him I would put 100 per cent attention into golf. He has got problems with the tee shots, issues with distance control with the wedges, and his putting stroke at times lets him down. He has the big three!
“I think the wedges have cost him. That would cost you more, mentally. That would deflate me more. You have just got to find a way and really work on it until you are blue in the face.”