IRON MAN 2
Only way to win at Southern Hills is to do a ‘Tiger’. You can’t blast it here... Woods won in 2007 by being deadly with his second shot EXCLUSIVE
NICK DOUGHERTY
TIGER WOODS set the blueprint for Southern Hills – and the player who follows it will win the US PGA this week.
Former pro and Sky Sports presenter
Nick
Dougherty has cast his eye over the revamped Tulsa course in Oklahoma that has been branded one of the toughest on the circuit.
Dougherty was part of the field when Woods stormed to victory back in 2007.
And despite £9million of alterations increasing the difficulty, he insists the road to glory remains the same.
He said: “What Tiger showed back then is that you cannot just get away with hitting it where you want off the tee – which is quite often the case at PGA Tour events.
“There, the name of the game is hit it as far as you can, as often as you can. Here, you must put it in the right place.
“If you don’t, you will struggle.
“The blueprint is clear – put the ball into play off the tee and those with the strongest iron games will come to the fore. That’s exactly what Tiger did.
“He was hitting the right parts of the fairway.
“He was making the right parts of the green with his irons. And he made what was a tough test, well, look as easy as it ever is.
“Tiger’s game, obviously, was of the highest class.
“But what gave him the edge was that he was head and shoulders above the rest in his iron play.
“No one was better. He wasn’t the most accurate driver but he was one of the longest then.
“So he was closer to the green, hitting less club and he was so far ahead of everyone else with his irons.
“When you add to that he had a very tidy short game, it was no surprise he won at places such as Southern Hills.
“It is a relentless task of putting the ball in the right place. And, that week, Tiger mastered it.”
Dougherty is therefore favouring those with the game who can produce something similar – with accuracy from tee to green the principal factor in his assessment of potential winners.
He said: “Scottie Scheffler is in great form. He’s teeing off in his home town this week in Dallas at the Byron Nelson – excellent preparation.
“I can’t see a world where he’s not in contention.
“Jon Rahm has done everything but win.
“He’s been good without being brilliant. I wouldn’t say he’s in full flow but he has a big chance.
“Of the rest, Dustin Johnson is in a good place. He’s just got married. He’s had some time out and he played pretty well at The Masters.
“He’s always going to be a threat where prowess with the long game is going to be pivotal. “But one guy I’m looking at closely is Jordan Spieth (above). If he triumphs, he’ll beat Rory McIlroy to the Grand Slam – and it would be a monumental story.
“Why? He’s just won the Heritage and he did that putting poorly.
“Spieth’s driving has improved so much. He’s gone from being arguably the best with the putter – remember those he was making at the 2017 Open? – to being the guy who misses four-footers.”